Whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities, all investors love seeing their portfolios score big returns. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and, of course, dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Based in Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons (WLY) is in the Consumer Staples sector, and so far this year, shares have seen a price change of 59.06%. The publisher is paying out a dividend of $0.36 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.94% compared to the Publishing - Books industry's yield of 1.7% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.33%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.43 is up 0.7% from last year. Over the last 5 years, John Wiley & Sons has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 0.69%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. John Wiley & Sons's current payout ratio is 34%, meaning it paid out 34% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, WLY expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $4.80 per share, which represents a year-over-year growth rate of 14.56%.
Investors like dividends for many reasons; they greatly improve stock investing profits, decrease overall portfolio risk, and carry tax advantages, among others. But, not every company offers a quarterly payout.
Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. That said, they can take comfort from the fact that WLY is not only an attractive dividend play, but also represents a compelling investment opportunity with a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (WLY) : Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
