Rankings Financial data & insurance broking Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer
82
15070100
A view of the same findings, not a new score. How it works
A strong score: the model found few serious problems, but analysts see limited upside from here.
Biggest deductions
- Moat (AI substitution)−7
- Quality of growth−3
- Capital allocation−2
Strengths
- Recurring revenue and margin+2
- AI adoption+1
- Buybacks and dividend from FCF+1
How the score is built
From 100 to 82, step by step: points off for the business, the price and the cracks, back for documented strengths, then three data adjustments.
Start
Score
Hover or select a step to see what drove it. Steps with findings open them below.
Key numbers
As of 3 Nov 2026. Analyst targets tend to be optimistic; read upside as a hint, not a forecast.
- Price
- 85.24 EUR
- Median analyst target
- 97.00 EUR
- Upside to median
- +13.8%
- Analysts
- 16
- Target range
- 56.00 – 120.00 EUR
- 52-week change
- −20%
- P/E (trailing)
- 14.5
- Forward P/E
- 14.8
- PEG
- 1.77
Findings
Every deduction and every plus, with its source. Open a step to read them.
Business
Is the company getting stronger, not just bigger? · 3 findings−12 of −30
- −7Moat (AI substitution)AI-native competitors are attacking the core products: OpenEvidence against UpToDate in clinical decision support, and AI-native legal players such as Harvey and Legora are gaining ground; management itself mentioned them on the H1 call. The market has more than halved the share price on fears that paid expert content becomes a commodity.
- −3Quality of growthOrganic growth has fallen from 6% in 2025 to 5% in H1 2026; Health (UpToDate) 5%, Legal & Regulatory 5% (7% a year earlier) and Financial & Corporate Compliance 4%. Reported revenue TTM is −0.3% (EUR 6.11bn), and consensus expects only +2.5% in 2026.
- −2Capital allocationBuybacks of EUR 1.0bn a year in 2022–2024 and EUR 1.1bn in 2025 were made at prices of EUR 90–150 vs EUR 68 today, partly debt-funded: gross debt has risen from EUR 3.1bn to 5.5bn since 2021.
Price
Today's multiples against the company's own history and its peers. · 1 finding−1 of −35
- −1Multiples vs own historyP/E 11.6 and forward P/E 11.5 vs 22.9–30.1 forward in 2021–24 and 15.7 in 2025; EV/EBITDA 9.6 vs 12.5–22.2; FCF yield 9.2% vs 3.5–6.8%. Clearly below own history; net debt (about EUR 4bn, 27% of market cap) makes the EV multiples less cheap than P/E.
Cracks
Cash flow, customers, debt, insiders, guidance and what sits behind the headline numbers. · 3 findings−5 of −35
- −2Guidance and estimatesThe stock fell 13% on the Q1 figures in May because growth did not accelerate despite large AI investments, and management warned of weaker profit growth in H2 2026 as product development is raised to 12–13% of revenue; 2026 EPS guidance is only high single-digit growth.
- −1Management changeLong-serving CEO Nancy McKinstry has been replaced by Stacey Caywood in the middle of the AI transition, where the new management must prove that the AI products can lift growth; the share is down about 62% over a year to May 2026.
- −2DebtGross debt EUR 5.55bn and debt/EBITDA 2.77 vs 2.10–2.15 in 2021–24; net debt about EUR 4.05bn and negative working capital (current ratio 0.69).
Plus
Only documented strengths. · 3 findings+4 of +15
- +2Recurring revenue and margin85% of revenue is recurring and grew 7% organically in H1 2026; the adjusted operating margin rose 1 percentage point to 29.4%, and the reported operating margin has been lifted from 22.5% (2021) to 25.6% with ROIC of about 25%.
- +1AI adoptionOver 90% of US Enterprise Edition customers have signed up for UpToDate Expert AI, about 250 audit firms subscribe to CCH Axcess' agent modules, and AI solutions make up about 70% of digital revenue.
- +1Buybacks and dividend from FCFBuyback EUR 802m plus dividend EUR 569m TTM vs FCF EUR 1,391m (just below); the 2026 programme has been cut to EUR 500m, and the dividend has risen for 9 years in a row.
Caveats
What the score does not capture, or where the data is weak.
The stock is −40% over 52 weeks and −55% from the end of 2024 (EUR 151 → 68), because the market is pricing in AI substitution of the content business; the low multiple is therefore not free. The company reports an adjusted operating margin of 29.4% (H1) and adjusted EPS (+14% at constant currency), while the reported operating margin TTM is 25.6% and reported EPS 5.87; stockanalysis' 2026 estimate (5.60) is on a different basis than the TTM figure. P/B of 16 is meaningless because of buybacks and negative tangible equity. The company's net debt/EBITDA is 2.0x vs stockanalysis' gross debt/EBITDA of 2.77. The fall in share count (−3.4%) matches buybacks of EUR 0.8bn TTM. Insider trading has not been examined. Next report 24/2/2027 (possibly a Q3 trading update in November).
Also in Financial data & insurance broking
The highest scores in the same industry.
