Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in John Wiley & Sons, Inc. $WLY

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) by 18.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 154,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,299 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC owned about 0.29% of John Wiley & Sons worth $6,882,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 1.5% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 950,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,419,000 after acquiring an additional 14,401 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 19.0% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 571,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,503,000 after purchasing an additional 91,294 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 169.8% in the first quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 277,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,345,000 after purchasing an additional 174,367 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in John Wiley & Sons during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $10,755,000. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 35.3% during the 2nd quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 218,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,761,000 after purchasing an additional 57,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

Shares of WLY opened at $36.36 on Friday. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.92 and a 52 week high of $53.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.28 and a 200-day moving average of $39.53.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 28th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $533.00 million for the quarter. John Wiley & Sons had a return on equity of 27.31% and a net margin of 5.82%. As a group, analysts forecast that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

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

John Wiley & Sons Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 7th were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 7th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of John Wiley & Sons in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen cut shares of John Wiley & Sons from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, John Wiley & Sons currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

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.