John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) Shares Down 5.6% – Here’s What Happened

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY)’s stock price dropped 5.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $44.47 and last traded at $44.12. Approximately 218,876 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 33% from the average daily volume of 325,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.73.

John Wiley & Sons Stock Down 5.6 %

The company has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.47 and a beta of 0.82. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $45.97.

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 6th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. The firm had revenue of $404.63 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.10 million. Sell-side analysts predict that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

John Wiley & Sons Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.20%. This is an increase from John Wiley & Sons’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. John Wiley & Sons’s payout ratio is presently 190.54%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On John Wiley & Sons

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 686.1% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in John Wiley & Sons by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of John Wiley & Sons in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of John Wiley & Sons during the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Institutional investors own 73.94% of the company’s stock.

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.