John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $37.03, but opened at $40.80. John Wiley & Sons shares last traded at $39.73, with a volume of 104,426 shares changing hands.

The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $442.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.3525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $1.41 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. John Wiley & Sons's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.16%.

Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth about $44,880,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in John Wiley & Sons during the fourth quarter worth about $34,916,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in John Wiley & Sons during the first quarter worth about $10,755,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC raised its position in John Wiley & Sons by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 347,047 shares of the company's stock worth $15,169,000 after acquiring an additional 219,349 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 169.8% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 277,052 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,345,000 after acquiring an additional 174,367 shares during the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Up 1.9%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $41.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32 and a beta of 0.88.

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.