American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 7,238 Shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $WLY

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. by 7.6% during the first quarter, bringing its ownership to worth $4.58 million.
• John Wiley & Sons has received a rating upgrade from buy to strong-buy by analysts at Wall Street Zen, indicating increased confidence in the company's growth.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.355 per share and launched a share buyback program of up to $250 million.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 102,777 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,238 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.19% of John Wiley & Sons worth $4,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners increased its position in John Wiley & Sons by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,709 shares of the company's stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 979 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 169.8% during the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 277,052 shares of the company's stock worth $12,345,000 after buying an additional 174,367 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the first quarter worth $10,755,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the first quarter valued at about $515,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 6.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,111 shares of the company's stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

John Wiley & Sons Trading Down 3.8%

NYSE:WLY traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $38.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,000,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 279,850. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.10 and a 52 week high of $53.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 25.00 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.60.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $396.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.00 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 1.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.350 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 is a positive change from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is presently 92.81%.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.