John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Sets New 12-Month Low – What’s Next?

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $32.81 and last traded at $32.7770, with a volume of 389714 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $34.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WLY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of John Wiley & Sons in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

John Wiley & Sons Trading Down 6.5%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $36.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17 and a beta of 1.03.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 4th. The company reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.13. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 5.82%.The company had revenue of $421.75 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $416.40 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. John Wiley & Sons has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.900-4.350 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 7th were paid a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.78%.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, September 25th that allows the company to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 11.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Capital Management LLC now owns 1,474,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,685,000 after buying an additional 612,866 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 323.5% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 528,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,569,000 after purchasing an additional 403,389 shares during the period. Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,012,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in John Wiley & Sons by 192.5% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 594,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,547,000 after purchasing an additional 391,428 shares during the period. Finally, Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 16.7% during the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,207,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,351,000 after buying an additional 315,329 shares during the period. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.