Share Repurchase Program Initiated by John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Board of Directors

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, June 26th, RTT News reports. The company plans to repurchase $250.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WLY opened at $45.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. John Wiley & Sons has a twelve month low of $36.50 and a twelve month high of $53.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $41.89 and its 200-day moving average is $42.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50 and a beta of 0.88.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $442.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $435.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. John Wiley & Sons’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 8th will be given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. This is a positive change from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded John Wiley & Sons from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, June 21st.

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.