Head to Head Survey: John Wiley & Sons (WLY) vs. Its Rivals

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) is one of 261 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it contrast to its competitors? We will compare John Wiley & Sons to related businesses based on the strength of its profitability, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, earnings and risk.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	$221.62 million	12.88
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	$3.24 billion	-$96.95 million	7.82

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

Dividends

John Wiley & Sons pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.6%. 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 5.0% and pay out 99.7% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. John Wiley & Sons has increased its dividend for 26 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	1	0	2.50
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	2255	6841	10767	465	2.46

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 13.67%. Given John Wiley & Sons’ competitors higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe John Wiley & Sons has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Volatility & Risk

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Wiley & Sons’ competitors have a beta of 1.02, meaning that their average stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

73.9% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 39.1% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 16.7% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its competitors’ 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	-18.64%	-46.46%	-5.09%

Summary

John Wiley & Sons beats its competitors on 8 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.