John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to Buy

Key Points

• John Wiley & Sons has been downgraded from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating by Wall Street Zen.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $0.49 per share, which fell short of analyst expectations, despite revenue surpassing estimates at $396.80 million.
• John Wiley & Sons has authorized a share repurchase program allowing for the buyback of up to $250 million in outstanding shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

John Wiley & Sons Trading Up 3.5%

John Wiley & Sons stock traded up $1.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $41.26. 507,160 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 324,786. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. John Wiley & Sons has a 12 month low of $36.10 and a 12 month high of $53.96. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $40.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.18 and a beta of 1.02.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, September 4th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.50 by ($0.01). John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 5.82%.The firm had revenue of $396.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $375.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.350 EPS. Analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 paid a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is presently 79.78%.

Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WLY. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,349 shares of the company's stock valued at $322,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP increased its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 237.7% in the 4th quarter. Susquehanna International Group LLP now owns 45,604 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,993,000 after acquiring an additional 32,099 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,422,000 after acquiring an additional 3,424 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 440,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,244,000 after acquiring an additional 43,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at $209,000. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

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.