John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Key Points

• John Wiley & Sons experienced a massive increase in short interest, rising 40,920.4% in July, with a total of 2,010,000 shares short sold as of July 15th.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.355 per share, reflecting a slight increase from the previous dividend, representing a 3.7% yield.
• Analysts raised the company’s rating from "buy" to "strong-buy", indicating increased confidence in the stock moving forward.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,010,000 shares, anincreaseof40,920.4% from the June 30th total of 4,900 shares. Currently,4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 514,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 514,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently,4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AdvisorShares Investments LLC acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 2nd quarter worth about $466,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in John Wiley & Sons by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 18,180 shares of the company's stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 2,167 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in John Wiley & Sons by 82.5% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 20,284 shares of the company's stock worth $905,000 after purchasing an additional 9,172 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 2nd quarter worth $242,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company's stock.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

Shares of WLY stock traded down $0.41 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.98. The company had a trading volume of 65,447 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,521. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $40.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.90. John Wiley & Sons has a one year low of $36.50 and a one year high of $53.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $435.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that John Wiley & Sons will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, June 26th that permits the company to repurchase $250.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note 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.