Royce & Associates LP Trims Stock Holdings in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

Key Points

• Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 57.5% during Q1, now holding 10,041 shares valued at approximately $447,000.
• Analysts at Wall Street Zen upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" to a "strong-buy" rating following positive quarterly earnings results.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.355 per share, along with a $250 million stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock valuation.

Royce & Associates LP reduced its position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 57.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,041 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,605 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP's holdings in John Wiley & Sons were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 37.8% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

Shares of WLY traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.21. The company had a trading volume of 535,942 shares, compared to its average volume of 513,633. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.96. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.97 and a beta of 0.96. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.50 and a 52-week high of $53.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 27.42%. The firm had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. The business's revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.