Should You Think About Buying John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY) Now?

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:WLY), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a double-digit share price rise of over 10% in the past couple of months on the NYSE. As a US$2.0b market cap stock, it seems odd John Wiley & Sons is not more well-covered by analysts. Although, there is more of an opportunity for mispricing in stocks with low coverage, which can be a good thing. So, could the stock still be trading at a low price relative to its actual value? Let’s examine John Wiley & Sons’s valuation and outlook in more detail to determine if there’s still a bargain opportunity.

See our latest analysis for John Wiley & Sons

What's The Opportunity In John Wiley & Sons?

The stock seems fairly valued at the moment according to my valuation model. It’s trading around 1.47% above my intrinsic value, which means if you buy John Wiley & Sons today, you’d be paying a relatively fair price for it. And if you believe the company’s true value is $36.19, there’s only an insignificant downside when the price falls to its real value. In addition to this, John Wiley & Sons has a low beta, which suggests its share price is less volatile than the wider market.

What does the future of John Wiley & Sons look like?

Investors looking for growth in their portfolio may want to consider the prospects of a company before buying its shares. Although value investors would argue that it’s the intrinsic value relative to the price that matter the most, a more compelling investment thesis would be high growth potential at a cheap price. Though in the case of John Wiley & Sons, it is expected to deliver a negative revenue growth of -6.3% over the next couple of years, which doesn’t help build up its investment thesis. It appears that risk of future uncertainty is high, at least in the near term.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? WLY seems fairly priced right now, but given the uncertainty from negative returns in the future, this could be the right time to de-risk your portfolio. Is your current exposure to the stock beneficial for your total portfolio? And is the opportunity cost of holding a negative-outlook stock too high? Before you make a decision on the stock, take a look at whether its fundamentals have changed.

Are you a potential investor? If you’ve been keeping an eye on WLY for a while, now may not be the most optimal time to buy, given it is trading around its fair value. The price seems to be trading at fair value, which means there’s less benefit from mispricing. Furthermore, the negative growth outlook increases the risk of holding the stock. However, there are also other important factors we haven’t considered today, which can help gel your views on WLY should the price fluctuate below its true value.

If you want to dive deeper into John Wiley & Sons, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. You'd be interested to know, that we found 2 warning signs for John Wiley & Sons and you'll want to know about these.

If you are no longer interested in John Wiley & Sons, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.