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

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. 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 trading hands.

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

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 3.37%. 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 is currently -154.95%.

Institutional Trading of John Wiley & Sons

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WLY. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of John Wiley & Sons by 114.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in John Wiley & Sons in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in John Wiley & Sons during the third quarter worth about $57,000. 73.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Up 10.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.98. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.67 and a beta of 0.86.

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.