John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $37.91, but opened at $42.52. John Wiley & Sons shares last traded at $41.45, with a volume of 67,259 shares traded.

The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.39. John Wiley & Sons had a negative net margin of 2.82% and a positive return on equity of 24.14%.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 26th were issued a dividend of $0.3525 per share. This represents a $1.41 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. John Wiley & Sons’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -154.95%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 0.8% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 209,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the third quarter valued at about $682,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 39.6% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 3,833 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

John Wiley & Sons Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.67 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $45.98.

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.