WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $23.29 and last traded at $22.4360, with a volume of 44220 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.73.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WT. Northland Securities set a $22.00 target price on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on WisdomTree from $16.40 to $18.30 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised WisdomTree from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Zacks Research downgraded WisdomTree from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of WisdomTree in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $20.66.

WisdomTree Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average is $19.29 and its 200-day moving average is $17.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.90 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.53, a current ratio of 3.00 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The company reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $177.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $170.62 million. WisdomTree had a net margin of 13.27% and a return on equity of 39.12%. WisdomTree’s revenue for the quarter was up 57.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.18 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 12th. WisdomTree’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at WisdomTree

In related news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of WisdomTree stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.99, for a total value of $569,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,110,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,083,552.55. This trade represents a 2.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 10.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WisdomTree

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WisdomTree in the 2nd quarter valued at about $326,513,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in WisdomTree by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,196,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,482,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521,599 shares in the last quarter. Azora Capital LP increased its position in WisdomTree by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 6,150,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,970,000 after purchasing an additional 521,179 shares in the last quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in WisdomTree by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Simcoe Capital Management LLC now owns 5,253,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,038,000 after buying an additional 535,015 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in WisdomTree by 41.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,134,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,197,000 after buying an additional 1,205,097 shares during the period. 78.64% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WisdomTree

WisdomTree Investments, Inc (NYSE: WT) is a U.S.-based asset management firm specializing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs). Founded in 2006 by Jonathan Steinberg and headquartered in New York City, WisdomTree has developed a reputation for pioneering smart-beta and fundamentally weighted indexing approaches. The company designs strategies that seek to enhance returns and reduce volatility by weighting constituents based on dividends, earnings or other financial metrics rather than relying solely on market capitalization.

WisdomTree offers a broad suite of investment products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and digital assets.