John Wiley & Sons
WLY on NYSE. John Wiley & Sons sells journals, books, and learning materials to researchers and institutions. Market value $1.5bn.
Price checks use the past 12 months to July 2026. Quality checks use five annual reports, the latest for the year to April 2026.
Should I look at this?
Not a fit for our list right now
Why it could be worth it
See Media & telecom stocks that passed both tests
This is not advice. Check the numbers below.
For every $100 of what the whole company costs, it produced $9.30 of spare cash in the past 12 months. A savings account pays about $4.
You pay 15.1 years of operating profit for the business. The average large US company costs around 18.
Each dollar kept in the business earns 9 cents a year. Above 10 is good.
Quality score: 66 of 100. Price score: 94 of 100. Our list needs 70 on quality and 60 on price.
$48.45 a share, 71% above its 1-year low
Over the past year the price has ranged from $28.38 to $57.45.
Dividend: 2.9% a year
Paid every year for at least 5 years
Prices from Tuesday’s close (6 October).
Five years of cash, in billions
| Revenue | |||||
| Revenue | $2.1bn | $2.0bn | $1.9bn | $1.7bn | $1.7bn |
| Operating margin | |||||
| Operating margin | 10.5% | 2.8% | 2.8% | 13.2% | 16.5% |
| Debt to equity | |||||
| Debt to equity | 0.69 | 0.72 | 1.05 | 1.06 | 0.81 |
| Shares outstanding | |||||
| Shares outstanding | 0.06bn | 0.06bn | 0.05bn | 0.05bn | 0.05bn |
Health checks
- Free cash flow positive5 of 5 years
- Accounting looks honest (Beneish)Nothing unusual
- Financial strength (Piotroski)7 of 8 checks we could run
- Profit backed by cash (accruals)Yes
- Debt0.81× equity
- Revenue growth, five yearsShrinking, 2.9% a year
- Buying back its own sharesYes, 6% fewer since 2022
The quarter to July 2026
How the business did, compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
- Sales: $386 million last quarter, down 3% on a year ago.
- A loss of $12 million, after a profit of $12 million a year ago.
- It keeps 15 cents of each $1 of sales as operating profit, up from 13 cents a year earlier.
- Spare cash over the past 12 months: $240 million, up from $147 million.
- 6% fewer shares than a year ago. Each share owns a bit more of the company.
- Debt is $1.2 billion more than cash, up from $746 million a year ago.
- Sales grew on a year ago in 2 of the last 4 quarters.
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| October 2024 | $427m |
| January 2025 | $405m |
| April 2025 | $443m |
| July 2025 | $397m |
| October 2025 | $422m |
| January 2026 | $410m |
| April 2026 | $448m |
| July 2026 | $386m |
| Quarter to | Amount |
|---|---|
| October 2024 | $40m |
| January 2025 | -$23m |
| April 2025 | $68m |
| July 2025 | $12m |
| October 2025 | $45m |
| January 2026 | $30m |
| April 2026 | $135m |
| July 2026 | -$12m |
From the company's quarterly reports to the SEC.
Dates
- Next results (estimated)
- n/a
- Last annual report (10-K)
- 24 June 2026
- Next quarterly (estimated, 10-Q)
- 4 December 2026
Who owns it
4 long-term investors we follow own it, up from 3 last quarter. 266 funds in all.
| Fund | Value | Share of that fund | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| LSV Asset ManagementJosef Lakonishok | $50m | <0.1% | Added |
| Clarkston Capital PartnersJeff Hakala | $37m | 3.1% | Cut |
| Gotham Asset ManagementJoel Greenblatt | $212,765 | <0.1% | Cut |
| Barrow HanleyBarrow Hanley team | $2,474 | <0.1% | New |
Largest holders overall
- BlackRock$301m
- Neuberger Berman Group$146m
- Vanguard Portfolio Management$121m
- Schroder Investment Management Group$118mAdded
- State Street$110mAdded
- Dimensional Fund Advisors LP$91mAdded
- Vanguard Capital Management$81mCut
- Bank of Montreal /can$77m
- Brown Advisory$61mAdded
- LSV Asset Management$50mAdded
From 13F filings for the quarter ended 30 June 2026.
Big holders and activists
8 investors own more than 5%.
- Deborah E. WileyInsider or founderat least 91.5%+85.3 pts(filed with 6 related holders)Since 9 May 2025
What they said
Item 4 is hereby amended and restated as follows: As previously reported in Amendment No. 6, the Reporting Persons seek to maintain the ability to elect a majority of the Board of Directors of the Issuer. As described above, the holders of Class B Common Stock are currently…
Read the filing - Neuberger Berman Group LLCPassive investorat least 6.4%(filed with 1 related holder)Since 30 June 2025
- Vanguard Portfolio ManagementPassive investor6.1%Since 31 March 2026
- Modell Capital LLCPassive investorat least 6.0%+1.7 pts(filed with 1 related holder)Since 31 December 2025
- SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GROUPPassive investorat least 5.6%(filed with 3 related holders)Since 31 March 2026
- STATE STREET CORPORATIONPassive investor5.1%Since 31 March 2026
- Madison Avenue Partners, LPPassive investorat least 5.0%(filed with 5 related holders)Since 31 December 2024
- Clarkston Capital PartnersPassive investorat least 2.2%−3.8 pts(filed with 3 related holders)Since 31 March 2026
- WG6 LLCInsider or founderSold down below 5%Since 9 May 2025
What they said
Item 4 is hereby amended and restated as follows: As previously reported in Amendment No. 6, the Reporting Persons seek to maintain the ability to elect a majority of the Board of Directors of the Issuer. As described above, the holders of Class B Common Stock are currently…
Read the filing - The Vanguard GroupPassive investorSold down below 5%Since 13 March 2026
| Holder | Stake | Since | |
|---|---|---|---|
Deborah E. Wiley Insider or founder | at least 91.5%+85.3 pts (filed with 6 related holders) | 9 May 2025 | What they saidItem 4 is hereby amended and restated as follows: As previously reported in Amendment No. 6, the Reporting Persons seek to maintain the ability to elect a majority of the Board of Directors of the Issuer. As described above, the holders of Class B Common Stock are currently… Read the filing |
Neuberger Berman Group LLC Passive investor | at least 6.4% (filed with 1 related holder) | 30 June 2025 | |
Vanguard Portfolio Management Passive investor | 6.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
Modell Capital LLC Passive investor | at least 6.0%+1.7 pts (filed with 1 related holder) | 31 December 2025 | |
SCHRODER INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT GROUP Passive investor | at least 5.6% (filed with 3 related holders) | 31 March 2026 | |
STATE STREET CORPORATION Passive investor | 5.1% | 31 March 2026 | |
Madison Avenue Partners, LP Passive investor | at least 5.0% (filed with 5 related holders) | 31 December 2024 | |
Clarkston Capital Partners Passive investor | at least 2.2%−3.8 pts (filed with 3 related holders) | 31 March 2026 | |
WG6 LLC Insider or founder | Sold down below 5% | 9 May 2025 | What they saidItem 4 is hereby amended and restated as follows: As previously reported in Amendment No. 6, the Reporting Persons seek to maintain the ability to elect a majority of the Board of Directors of the Issuer. As described above, the holders of Class B Common Stock are currently… Read the filing |
The Vanguard Group Passive investor | Sold down below 5% | 13 March 2026 |
From Schedule 13D and 13G filings: anyone owning more than 5% must file one.
What insiders did
No insider bought or sold on the open market in the last 12 months.
From Form 4 filings: insiders must report trades in their own company's shares within two days.
What could go wrong
- Sales have shrunk: 2.9% a year.
Whether the price already reflects the risks is what the deep dive is for.
The deep dive
Everything above is arithmetic on public filings. The deep dive reads the last ten years of annual reports, the proxy statements, and the earnings calls, then argues the case the way Buffett, Klarman, and Hohn would, and checks every claim against the source.
- What the business is worth, as a range, and the margin of safety at today’s price
- Prices to start buying, buy, and buy hard
- The three things that would make this a mistake
- Every number footnoted to the filing it came from
Your first deep dive is free.
Not advice. Numbers on this page come from SEC filings and are updated each night; prices are updated again after the US market closes. The five-year figures are rounded.