John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $49.64, but opened at $51.50. John Wiley & Sons shares last traded at $51.9050, with a volume of 6,824 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WLY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 2.2%

The firm has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $50.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.61.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 3rd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.04. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.99% and a net margin of 11.90%. The firm had revenue of $386.36 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $380.20 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. John Wiley & Sons’s quarterly revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.600-5.050 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 4.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.3575 per share. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 6th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.83%.

Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLY. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in John Wiley & Sons by 11.7% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 378 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 264.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 827 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. bought a new stake in John Wiley & Sons in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 28.1% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc is a global publishing and knowledge services company serving the research, education and professional markets. Founded in 1807 by Charles Wiley, the company has evolved from a New York City bookseller and publisher into an international provider of scholarly, educational and professional content.

Wiley publishes academic, scientific, technical and professional books, journals and reference works. It also provides digital learning products, online resources, courseware and platforms that support students, educators, researchers, institutions and working professionals.