John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:WLY opened at $43.91 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.82 and its 200 day moving average is $42.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $2.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70 and a beta of 0.89. John Wiley & Sons has a 1 year low of $36.50 and a 1 year high of $53.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.10. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.42% and a net margin of 5.02%. The firm had revenue of $442.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $435.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that John Wiley & Sons will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 8th were issued a dividend of $0.3525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 8th. This represents a $1.41 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. John Wiley & Sons’s payout ratio is 92.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 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.