Book Publishing Stocks: It Pays to Read Up on Them

When I was going through the list of the top general investing books on Amazon (AMZN) that I wrote up in a previous article, I discovered that one publisher’s name kept popping up, John Wiley & Sons (JW-A) which trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Several of the books listed on the top ten, including The Only Three Questions That Count: Investing by Knowing What Others Don't, Get Rich With Options: Four Winning Strategies Straight from the Exchange Floor , and The Little Book That Beats the Market, were published by Wiley. And there are numerous others, not on the top ten, such as SuperCash: The New Hedge Fund Capitalism and Trade Like Warren Buffett , that were also published by Wiley.

After checking all the book publishing companies, I found that most of them paid dividends, and one had a yield of 3.1%. Here is the list of book publishing stocks, along with their price earnings ratio and yield.

Courier Corp. (CRRC) One of the largest publishers in the United States of educational, religious, and consumer books. P/E 17.8, yield 1.8%

John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (JW-A) This Hoboken, New Jersey company, founded in 1807, publishes print and electronic business, education, and technology books. P/E 20.5, yield 1.1%

McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. (MHP) Publishes education, financial, and business books and information services. Also owns Standard & Poor’s, Also owns BusinessWeek magazine; and J.D. Power and Associates, along with several other divisions. P/E 28, yield 1.1%.

Pearson plc (PSO) This London-based company publishes business and educational textbooks in the United States and Canada. It also publishes The Financial Times newspapers and The Economist magazine. P/E 22.1, yield 3.1%.

Peoples Educational Holdings Inc. (PEDH) Publishes supplementary educational materials for the K through 12 market. Negative earnings, no dividend.

Reader's Digest Association Inc. (RDA) Publishes books, magazines, and music worldwide. P/E 34, yield 2.4%.

Scholastic Corp. (SCHL) Publishes children’s and educational books worldwide. P/E 29.7, no dividend.

Thomson (TOC) Publishes legal, business, and educational books, textbooks, and information services. P/E 28.6, yield 2.1%.