John Wiley & Sons Inc. (WLY) Key Metrics
WLY valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $2.67B
- Enterprise value
- $3.65B
- P/E (TTM)
- 14.2 10-yr median 20.8
- Forward P/E
- 15.3
- PEG ratio
- 13.05
- Price / sales
- 1.6 10-yr median 1.4
- Price / book
- 3.0 10-yr median 2.7
- EV / EBITDA
- 9.6 10-yr median 9.2
- Dividend yield
- 2.24% $1.43 a year
- Beta
- 0.75
WLY key metrics, FY2017–FY2026
Fiscal year ended April 30, 2026 · U.S. dollarsWLY valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
WLY returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
WLY per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
WLY financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
WLY efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
WLY valuation history
WLY returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
WLY debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
WLY cash returned to shareholders
WLY price vs earnings per share
WLY key metrics
FY2017–FY2026| FY2026 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 | FY2019 | FY2018 | FY2017 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $2.18B | $2.39B | $2.06B | $2.17B | $2.88B | $3.21B | $2.11B | $2.67B | $3.82B | $3.07B |
| Enterprise value | $2.87B | $3.21B | $2.87B | $2.95B | $3.72B | $4.11B | $2.86B | $3.06B | $4.01B | $3.37B |
| P/E ratio | 9.8 | 28.4 | — | 126.1 | 19.4 | 21.7 | — | 15.9 | 19.9 | 27.0 |
| Price / sales | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Price / book | 2.6 | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.3 | 3.2 | 3.1 |
| Price / free cash flow | 12.3 | 20.0 | 19.5 | 12.8 | 13.2 | 14.2 | 10.7 | 16.3 | 16.4 | 15.0 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 8.4 | 11.8 | 9.9 | 7.8 | 8.5 | 8.9 | 7.3 | 10.6 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| EV / sales | 1.7 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 2.2 | 2.0 |
| EV / EBITDA | 7.1 | 9.3 | 71.4 | 10.4 | 8.3 | 9.7 | 7.9 | 7.9 | 9.6 | 9.0 |
| EV / free cash flow | 16.3 | 26.8 | 27.1 | 17.3 | 17.1 | 18.1 | 14.5 | 18.6 | 17.2 | 16.6 |
| Earnings yield | 10.2% | 3.5% | −9.7% | 0.8% | 5.1% | 4.6% | −3.5% | 6.3% | 5.0% | 3.7% |
| Free cash flow yield | 8.1% | 5.0% | 5.1% | 7.8% | 7.5% | 7.1% | 9.4% | 6.1% | 6.1% | 6.6% |
| Dividend yield | 3.4% | 3.2% | 3.7% | 3.6% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 3.6% | 2.8% | 1.9% | 2.3% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 8.0% | 5.7% | 5.9% | 5.2% | 3.7% | 2.9% | 5.8% | 5.1% | 3.0% | 4.0% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $40.93 | $43.64 | $37.57 | $38.57 | $50.89 | $56.94 | $37.55 | $46.18 | $65.95 | $52.70 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $31.49 | $30.60 | $34.09 | $35.84 | $36.80 | $34.39 | $32.58 | $31.12 | $31.03 | $29.53 |
| Earnings per share | $4.16 | $1.53 | −$3.65 | $0.31 | $2.62 | $2.63 | −$1.32 | $2.91 | $3.32 | $1.95 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $4.89 | $3.69 | $3.78 | $4.92 | $5.99 | $6.37 | $5.13 | $4.34 | $6.46 | $5.40 |
| Free cash flow per share | $3.32 | $2.19 | $1.93 | $3.02 | $3.84 | $4.02 | $3.52 | $2.84 | $4.02 | $3.50 |
| Cash per share | $1.42 | $1.57 | $1.52 | $1.89 | $1.77 | $1.66 | $3.60 | $1.61 | $2.93 | $1.01 |
| Book value per share | $15.93 | $13.72 | $13.46 | $18.54 | $20.18 | $19.33 | $16.61 | $20.42 | $20.57 | $17.24 |
| Tangible book value per share | −$16.21 | −$17.59 | −$17.61 | −$17.99 | −$19.28 | −$22.63 | −$18.58 | −$14.56 | −$13.06 | −$15.57 |
| Dividends per share | $1.40 | $1.39 | $1.40 | $1.37 | $1.36 | $1.36 | $1.36 | $1.31 | $1.27 | $1.23 |
| Capex per share | $1.57 | $1.51 | $1.85 | $1.89 | $2.15 | $2.36 | $1.61 | $1.50 | $2.43 | $1.90 |
| Debt per share | $14.44 | $16.40 | $16.15 | $15.68 | $16.61 | $17.53 | $17.02 | $8.28 | $6.22 | $6.27 |
| Shares outstanding | 53.2M | 54.8M | 54.9M | 56.4M | 56.6M | 56.5M | 56.2M | 57.8M | 57.9M | 58.2M |
| Change in shares outstanding | −2.9% | −0.2% | −2.5% | −0.4% | +0.2% | +0.4% | −2.8% | −0.1% | −0.5% | −0.9% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 27.7% | 11.3% | −22.4% | 1.6% | 13.3% | 14.6% | −7.0% | 14.2% | 17.5% | 11.1% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 17.8% | 9.4% | 10.5% | 5.6% | 7.8% | 10.0% | 8.8% | 12.2% | 17.6% | 10.1% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 8.4% | 3.1% | −6.9% | 0.5% | 4.4% | 4.5% | −2.4% | 5.8% | 7.1% | 4.1% |
| Return on tangible assets | 25.2% | 8.6% | −19.7% | 1.6% | 13.1% | 13.8% | −6.2% | 18.4% | 21.5% | 16.3% |
| Free cash flow margin | 10.5% | 7.1% | 5.7% | 8.4% | 10.4% | 11.7% | 10.8% | 9.1% | 13.0% | 11.9% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.18 | 2.41 | — | 16.08 | 2.29 | 2.43 | — | 1.49 | 1.94 | 2.77 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $768.9M | $899.2M | $887.3M | $883.5M | $940.1M | $989.9M | $956.6M | $478.8M | $360.0M | $365.0M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $75.6M | $85.9M | $83.4M | $106.7M | $100.4M | $93.8M | $202.5M | $92.9M | $169.8M | $58.5M |
| Net debt | $693.3M | $813.3M | $803.9M | $776.8M | $839.7M | $896.1M | $754.2M | $385.9M | $190.2M | $306.5M |
| Debt / equity | 0.91 | 1.20 | 1.20 | 0.85 | 0.82 | 0.91 | 1.02 | 0.41 | 0.30 | 0.36 |
| Debt / assets | 0.30 | 0.33 | 0.33 | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0.29 | 0.30 | 0.16 | 0.13 | 0.14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.71 | 2.37 | 20.02 | 2.73 | 1.87 | 2.11 | 2.09 | 0.99 | 0.46 | 0.81 |
| Current ratio | 0.54 | 0.54 | 0.52 | 0.60 | 0.57 | 0.53 | 0.66 | 0.57 | 0.55 | 0.46 |
| Quick ratio | 0.51 | 0.51 | 0.49 | 0.57 | 0.53 | 0.49 | 0.62 | 0.53 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
| Interest coverage | 6.3 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 5.4 | 11.0 | 11.9 | 7.3 | 14.1 | 19.9 | 13.9 |
| Working capital | −$359.3M | −$381.0M | −$419.2M | −$354.3M | −$418.6M | −$462.7M | −$312.3M | −$379.8M | −$394.3M | −$428.1M |
| Invested capital | $1.54B | $1.57B | $1.54B | $1.82B | $1.98B | $1.99B | $1.69B | $1.57B | $1.38B | $1.31B |
| Tangible asset value | −$863.1M | −$964.3M | −$967.3M | −$1.01B | −$1.09B | −$1.28B | −$1.04B | −$842.4M | −$756.1M | −$906.3M |
| Net current asset value | −$1.32B | −$1.50B | −$1.53B | −$1.52B | −$1.67B | −$1.83B | −$1.62B | −$1.25B | −$1.17B | −$1.24B |
| Graham number | $38.62 | $21.77 | — | $11.30 | $34.50 | $33.79 | — | $36.56 | $39.20 | $27.52 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$27.70 | −$30.47 | −$31.32 | −$30.33 | −$32.72 | −$35.54 | −$31.65 | −$24.46 | −$22.46 | −$23.70 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $74.4M | $76.1M | $77.0M | $77.3M | $77.2M | $76.9M | $76.7M | $75.8M | $73.5M | $71.5M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $100.1M | $60.4M | $45.0M | $35.0M | $30.0M | $15.8M | $46.6M | $60.0M | $39.7M | $50.3M |
| Dividend payout ratio | 33.6% | 90.4% | — | 448.5% | 52.1% | 51.9% | — | 45.0% | 38.3% | 63.0% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 98.7% | 113.9% | 115.2% | 65.9% | 49.3% | 40.9% | 62.2% | 82.7% | 48.6% | 59.8% |
| Capex / revenue | 5.0% | 4.9% | 5.4% | 5.3% | 5.8% | 6.9% | 4.9% | 4.8% | 7.8% | 6.4% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 32.2% | 40.9% | 49.0% | 38.5% | 35.9% | 37.0% | 31.4% | 34.5% | 37.7% | 35.2% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.57 | 0.56 | 0.57 | 0.50 | 0.57 | 0.67 | 0.52 | 0.54 | 0.92 | 0.95 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.3% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 0.6% | 1.0% |
| R&D / revenue | — | — | 1.2% | 1.6% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 2.1% | 2.1% | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| SG&A / revenue | — | 56.5% | 54.1% | 49.1% | 49.4% | 50.1% | 51.9% | 51.1% | 51.0% | 56.3% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 51.4 | 49.2 | 52.1 | 58.0 | 56.4 | 58.4 | 61.4 | 52.6 | 40.8 | 37.8 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 17.8 | 18.5 | 16.3 | 15.8 | 18.4 | 22.5 | 22.1 | 22.5 | 27.5 | 37.8 |
| Days payables outstanding | 54.2 | 44.0 | 40.2 | 38.0 | 40.2 | 49.4 | 51.6 | 54.2 | 70.4 | 107.2 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 15.1 | 23.7 | 28.2 | 35.8 | 34.5 | 31.4 | 31.9 | 20.9 | -2.2 | -31.5 |
| Receivables turnover | 7.10 | 7.41 | 7.01 | 6.29 | 6.47 | 6.25 | 5.95 | 6.94 | 8.96 | 9.65 |
| Payables turnover | 6.73 | 8.29 | 9.08 | 9.61 | 9.07 | 7.39 | 7.08 | 6.73 | 5.18 | 3.41 |
| Inventory turnover | 20.48 | 19.68 | 22.32 | 23.10 | 19.86 | 16.25 | 16.50 | 16.23 | 13.26 | 9.66 |
| Asset turnover | 0.63 | 0.62 | 0.64 | 0.62 | 0.61 | 0.59 | 0.60 | 0.62 | 0.66 | 0.62 |
| Average receivables | $236.3M | $226.3M | $267.2M | $321.0M | $321.8M | $310.5M | $308.0M | $259.5M | $200.5M | $178.2M |
| Average payables | $64.1M | $58.3M | $70.0M | $80.9M | $86.6M | $94.7M | $92.3M | $90.5M | $111.8M | $149.8M |
| Average inventory | $21.1M | $24.5M | $28.5M | $33.7M | $39.6M | $43.1M | $39.6M | $37.5M | $43.7M | $52.8M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 66.0% | 63.8% | 62.6% | 66.2% | 66.4% | 68.7% | 62.4% | 68.9% | 68.6% | 73.3% |
Computed from WLY's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed June 24, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
WLY valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2026 (April 30, 2026), John Wiley & Sons traded at 9.8 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 20.8. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 14.2 and the forward P/E is 15.3. John Wiley & Sons earned a return on equity of 27.7% and a return on invested capital of 17.8% in fiscal 2026. It ended the year with $768.9 million of debt and $75.6 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $693.3 million. It returned $174.4 million to shareholders: $74.4 million in dividends and $100.1 million in share buybacks, 99% of free cash flow. The share count fell 8.5% from 58.2M to 53.2M over 9 years.
See the WLY income statement, the WLY chart for price history, or the WLY stock overview for the latest quote and news.
WLY key metrics FAQ
What is John Wiley & Sons's P/E ratio?
John Wiley & Sons's trailing P/E ratio is 14.2 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 15.3. At the end of fiscal 2026 it was 9.8, compared with a 10-year median of 20.8.
What is John Wiley & Sons's EV/EBITDA?
John Wiley & Sons's enterprise value was 7.1 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2026 (enterprise value $2.9 billion, EBITDA $405.1 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 9.6.
What is John Wiley & Sons's return on equity?
John Wiley & Sons's return on equity (ROE) was 27.7% in fiscal 2026: net income of $221.6 million on average shareholders' equity of $800.2 million.
What is John Wiley & Sons's ROIC?
John Wiley & Sons's return on invested capital was 17.8% in fiscal 2026, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does John Wiley & Sons have?
John Wiley & Sons had total debt of $768.9 million at the end of fiscal 2026, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91 and $693.3 million of net debt (1.71 times EBITDA).
What is John Wiley & Sons's dividend yield?
John Wiley & Sons's forward dividend yield is 2.24%. John Wiley & Sons paid $74.4 million in dividends in fiscal 2026 ($1.40 per share), a payout ratio of 33.6%.
Does John Wiley & Sons buy back its shares?
Yes. John Wiley & Sons spent $100.1 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2026 Shares outstanding changed −2.9% over the year, to 53.2M..
What is John Wiley & Sons's free cash flow yield?
John Wiley & Sons generated $176.7 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2026, a free cash flow yield of 8.1% on its market value at year-end ($2.2 billion).
What is John Wiley & Sons's current ratio?
John Wiley & Sons's current ratio was 0.54 at the end of fiscal 2026: current assets were 0.54 times current liabilities.