McGraw Hill Leadership Transition: Strategic Continuity and a Growth-Focused Successor Support Buy Rating

William Blair analyst Stephen Sheldon has reiterated their bullish stance on MH stock, giving a Buy rating on January 2.

Stephen Sheldon has given his Buy rating due to a combination of factors tied to McGraw Hill’s leadership transition and long-term outlook. He acknowledges Simon Allen’s strong reputation and track record, and while he views Allen’s retirement as a negative surprise for the market, he believes the decision is logical given the company’s successful IPO and solid current positioning. Sheldon also notes that Allen’s continued role as board chair should help maintain strategic continuity and reassure investors during the handover.

At the same time, Sheldon views the appointment of Philip Moyer as a significant positive, emphasizing Moyer’s deep background in software, cloud, fintech, and prior CEO roles at both large and smaller companies, including his recent leadership of Vimeo. He highlights that Moyer’s prior work founding a special education start-up underscores his familiarity with the education space and makes him a strong fit for McGraw Hill’s business. Additionally, Sheldon points to Moyer’s compensation package as well aligned with shareholders, given its multi-year vesting and performance-based share-price targets, which he sees as reinforcing management’s focus on driving shareholder value. Overall, despite near-term market volatility around the transition, Sheldon maintains high confidence in the company’s multi-year growth and earnings potential, supporting his Buy recommendation.

According to TipRanks, Sheldon is an analyst with an average return of -0.1% and a 43.61% success rate. Sheldon covers the Real Estate sector, focusing on stocks such as Real Brokerage, CBRE Group, and CoStar Group.

In another report released on January 2, BTIG also maintained a Buy rating on the stock with a $22.00 price target.