John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Trading Up 6.4% After Strong Earnings

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 6.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as high as $46.57 and last traded at $46.51. Approximately 345,269 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 7% from the average daily volume of 324,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.70.

The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $404.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.10 million. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were given a $0.3525 dividend. This represents a $1.41 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. This is a positive change from John Wiley & Sons's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 26th. John Wiley & Sons's payout ratio is presently -154.95%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WLY. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 113.6% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,762 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,726,000 after buying an additional 19,017 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 40.1% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 407,997 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,273,000 after acquiring an additional 116,772 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. purchased a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the third quarter worth $2,134,000. Atom Investors LP grew its holdings in John Wiley & Sons by 178.6% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 61,159 shares of the company's stock worth $2,951,000 after purchasing an additional 39,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the third quarter worth $543,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.94% of the company's stock.

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John Wiley & Sons Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of -50.77 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $41.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.97.

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.