Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $515,000 Position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $WLY

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. has acquired a new stake in John Wiley & Sons, purchasing 11,564 shares valued at approximately $515,000 in the 1st quarter.
• John Wiley & Sons has announced a $250 million share repurchase program, signaling confidence from the board in the stock's valuation.
• The company reported an EPS of $1.37 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $442.58 million despite a 5.5% decline year-over-year.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $515,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position 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 worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

WLY traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 102,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 458,205. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.50 and a 12 month high of $53.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91 and a beta of 0.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.42% and a net margin of 5.02%.The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th were paid a $0.355 dividend. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is 92.81%.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, June 26th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

John Wiley & Sons Profile

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.