Financial Analysis: John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) versus Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD)

John Wiley & Sons (NYSE:WLY) and Trade Desk (NASDAQ:TTD) are both mid-cap communication services companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, risk, earnings and dividends.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and Trade Desk”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
John Wiley & Sons	$1.67 billion	1.47	$221.62 million	$3.78	12.78
Trade Desk	$2.90 billion	2.05	$443.30 million	$0.84	15.07

Trade Desk has higher revenue and earnings than John Wiley & Sons. John Wiley & Sons is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Trade Desk, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

73.9% of John Wiley & Sons shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 67.8% of Trade Desk shares are held by institutional investors. 17.6% of John Wiley & Sons shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 11.4% of Trade Desk shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

John Wiley & Sons has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Trade Desk has a beta of 1.01, suggesting that its share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares John Wiley & Sons and Trade Desk’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
John Wiley & Sons	11.90%	27.99%	8.16%
Trade Desk	13.61%	16.09%	6.90%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for John Wiley & Sons and Trade Desk, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
John Wiley & Sons	0	2	0	0	2.00
Trade Desk	10	25	4	0	1.85

Trade Desk has a consensus target price of $19.39, suggesting a potential upside of 53.14%. Given Trade Desk’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Trade Desk is more favorable than John Wiley & Sons.

Summary

Trade Desk beats John Wiley & Sons on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About John Wiley & Sons

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.

About Trade Desk

The Trade Desk, Inc. operates as a technology company in the United States and internationally. The company offers a self-service cloud-based platform that allows buyers to plan, manage, optimize, and measure data-driven digital advertising campaigns across various ad formats and channels, including video, display, audio, digital-out-of-home, native, and social on various devices, such as computers, mobile devices, televisions, and streaming devices. It provides data and other value-added services. The company serves advertising agencies, brands, and other service providers for advertisers. The Trade Desk, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Ventura, California.