Comparing John Wiley & Sons (WLYB) & Its Peers

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLYB) is one of 259 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it compare to its rivals? We will compare John Wiley & Sons to similar companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, risk and profitability.

Dividends

John Wiley & Sons pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.7%. John Wiley & Sons pays out 33.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Media” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.2% and pay out 99.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. John Wiley & Sons has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its rivals top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	$221.62 million	12.35
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	$2.96 billion	-$23.63 million	17.52

John Wiley & Sons’ rivals have higher revenue, but lower earnings than John Wiley & Sons. John Wiley & Sons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and target prices for John Wiley & Sons and its rivals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	0	0	2.00
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	2223	6838	10805	472	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 19.35%. Given John Wiley & Sons’ rivals stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe John Wiley & Sons has less favorable growth aspects than its rivals.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

0.5% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.0% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 29.7% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.8% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Wiley & Sons	13.22%	29.01%	8.78%
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	-20.10%	-48.50%	-5.05%

Risk and Volatility

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Wiley & Sons’ rivals have a beta of 1.02, suggesting that their average share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

John Wiley & Sons rivals beat John Wiley & Sons on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

John Wiley & Sons Company 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. The Held for Sale or Sold segment offers businesses held-for-sale including Wiley Edge and CrossKnowledge, University Services and Tuition Manager, and Test Prep and Advancement Courses. The company was founded by Charles Wiley in 1807 and is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.