John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Stake Raised by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. by 36.5%, acquiring an additional 47,272 shares, bringing their total ownership to 176,695 shares valued at approximately $7.87 million.
• John Wiley & Sons declared a quarterly dividend of $0.355, reflecting an annualized dividend of $1.42 and a yield of 3.62%, up from their previous dividend of $0.35.
• Wall Street analysts upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating, indicating increased confidence in the company’s future performance.

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 36.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 176,695 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 47,272 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.33% of John Wiley & Sons worth $7,874,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 412 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter worth approximately $361,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,936,000 after buying an additional 5,901 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,318,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,485,000 after buying an additional 21,748 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter valued at $880,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE WLY traded down $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $39.19. The company had a trading volume of 792,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 570,090. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.50 and a fifty-two week high of $53.96. The company has a market capitalization of $2.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 0.91. 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 firm's 50 day moving average is $41.10 and its 200 day moving average is $42.07.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.00 million. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 5.02% and a return on equity of 27.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were paid a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. 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. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.81%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded 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.