John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Sets New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• John Wiley & Sons shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $53.47 and last at $53.625, up from the prior close of $51.01. The stock has a $2.75 billion market capitalization and a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating.
• The company slightly beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.67 EPS versus the $1.65 estimate, while revenue rose 1.2% year over year to $447.94 million, narrowly below forecasts. Analysts expect approximately $4.80 EPS for the current year.
• Wiley increased its quarterly dividend to $0.3575 per share, equal to $1.43 annually and a 2.6% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 73.94% of the company.

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $53.47 and last traded at $53.6250, with a volume of 102884 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.01.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on WLY shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of John Wiley & Sons from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Weiss Ratings upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $46.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.82 and a beta of 0.78.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 16th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.02. John Wiley & Sons had a net margin of 13.22% and a return on equity of 29.01%. The firm had revenue of $447.94 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $450.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2027 guidance at 4.600-5.050 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 7th were given a dividend of $0.3575 per share. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 7th. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is 33.81%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lido Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 5.7% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 5,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 11,321 shares of the company's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 12,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $374,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 519.8% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 564 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

About John Wiley & Sons

John Wiley & Sons, Inc is a global publishing and educational services company founded in 1807 and headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey. The company operates through two primary segments: Research & Publishing and Education. Through these segments, Wiley produces a wide range of scholarly journals, books, reference works and digital products for academic, scientific, technical and medical markets, as well as professional development and higher education learning resources.

In its Research & Publishing segment, Wiley publishes thousands of peer-reviewed journals and maintains the Wiley Online Library, a leading platform for scientific and scholarly content.

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