US Bancorp DE Reduces Holdings in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)

US Bancorp DE trimmed its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) by 62.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,725 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in John Wiley & Sons were worth $150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WLY. Brown Advisory Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,880,000. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 171.8% during the fourth quarter. Alta Fox Capital Management LLC now owns 347,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,169,000 after buying an additional 219,349 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the fourth quarter worth $3,436,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 5,949.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 69,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,105,000 after buying an additional 68,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp boosted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 565.3% during the first quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 67,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,986,000 after buying an additional 56,947 shares during the last quarter. 73.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

WLY opened at $39.54 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.69. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.50 and a 12-month high of $53.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $2.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84 and a beta of 0.96.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 17th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $435.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. John Wiley & Sons’s revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 earnings per share for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, June 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 8th were given a $0.355 dividend. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 8th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. John Wiley & Sons’s payout ratio is currently 92.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen raised John Wiley & Sons from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note 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.