Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 8,566 shares of the company's stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 95,539 shares of the company's stock worth $4,176,000 after purchasing an additional 12,115 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 28,064 shares of the company's stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,392 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth $361,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,318,812 shares of the company's stock worth $232,485,000 after acquiring an additional 21,748 shares in the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 0.3%

WLY traded down $0.13 on Tuesday, hitting $39.50. 78,783 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,750. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 0.91. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.50 and a 12 month high of $53.96. The stock's fifty day moving average is $41.01 and its 200-day moving average is $42.05.

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 company had revenue of $442.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. John Wiley & Sons's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.81%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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.