Financial Analysis: John Wiley & Sons (WLY) & Its Competitors

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) is one of 259 public companies in the “Media” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare John Wiley & Sons to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, earnings, profitability, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations and dividends.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.9% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 38.7% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by institutional investors. 16.7% of John Wiley & Sons shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 17.9% of shares of all “Media” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for John Wiley & Sons and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	1	1	0	2.50
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	2192	6813	10763	467	2.47

As a group, “Media” companies have a potential upside of 14.97%. Given John Wiley & Sons’ peers higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe John Wiley & Sons has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Dividends

John Wiley & Sons pays an annual dividend of $1.43 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. John Wiley & Sons pays out 33.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Media” companies pay a dividend yield of 5.0% and pay out 126.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. John Wiley & Sons has raised its dividend for 26 consecutive years.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.68 billion	$221.62 million	12.23
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	$3.19 billion	-$23.60 million	13.39

John Wiley & Sons’ peers have higher revenue, but lower earnings than John Wiley & Sons. John Wiley & Sons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Wiley & Sons	13.22%	29.01%	8.78%
John Wiley & Sons Competitors	-19.40%	-47.74%	-5.28%

Risk and Volatility

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, John Wiley & Sons’ peers have a beta of 1.02, suggesting that their average share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

John Wiley & Sons peers beat John Wiley & Sons on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Held for Sale or Sold segment offers businesses held-for-sale including Wiley Edge and CrossKnowledge, University Services and Tuition Manager, and Test Prep and Advancement Courses. The company was founded by Charles Wiley in 1807 and is headquartered in Hoboken, NJ.