Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Has $8.29 Million Position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management Co. LP reduced its stake in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. by 4.6%, owning 186,014 shares worth approximately $8.29 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• John Wiley & Sons has initiated a $250 million share buyback program, reflecting the board's belief that the stock is currently undervalued.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.355 per share, showing confidence with a dividend yield of 3.7% amidst a payout ratio of 92.81%.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lowered its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,014 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,899 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP owned 0.35% of John Wiley & Sons worth $8,289,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WLY. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 2.7% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,901 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 1st quarter worth approximately $880,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,272 shares of the company's stock worth $19,244,000 after purchasing an additional 43,275 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 55.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 33,174 shares of the company's stock worth $1,450,000 after purchasing an additional 11,839 shares in the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WLY traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $38.25. 338,440 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 503,107. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.50 and a 12 month high of $53.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a PE ratio of 10.39 and a beta of 0.96. The company's 50 day moving average price is $40.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.81. 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 (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, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

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

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 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.