Picton Mahoney Asset Management Takes Position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

Key Points

• Picton Mahoney Asset Management has acquired 24,931 shares of John Wiley & Sons, valued at approximately $1.11 million, as part of their first quarter investments.
• John Wiley & Sons plans to initiate a $250 million stock buyback program to purchase up to 10.7% of its outstanding shares, signaling a belief by the board that the stock is undervalued.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.355 per share, reflecting an increase from the previous dividend and providing an annual yield of 3.60%.

Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 24,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,111,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 21,294 shares of the company's stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the company's stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 21st.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:WLY traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.21. The stock had a trading volume of 535,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,633. The company has a market cap of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 24.97 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.95. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 1-year low of $36.50 and a 1-year high of $53.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $442.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 27.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 earnings per share. Analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This is a positive change from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.81%.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc engages in the provision of research and learning materials. It operates through the following segments: Research, Learning, and Held for Sale or Sold. The Research segment consists of research publishing and research solutions. The Learning segment includes academic and professional reporting lines and consists of publishing and related knowledge solutions.