Kendall Capital Management Purchases 7,220 Shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

Kendall Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 9.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,617 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,220 shares during the quarter. John Wiley & Sons comprises about 1.1% of Kendall Capital Management's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Kendall Capital Management owned approximately 0.16% of John Wiley & Sons worth $3,771,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Consolidated Planning Corp boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 565.3% in the first quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 67,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 56,947 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 38,155 shares of the company's stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 3,152 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter valued at about $880,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,564 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,827 shares of the company's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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 Price Performance

Shares of WLY stock traded down $0.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $44.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 397,107. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.96. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $41.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.19 and a beta of 0.89.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 8th. This is a positive change from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is 92.16%.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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.