WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) Hits New 1-Year High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• WisdomTree shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday, trading as high as $19.85 before settling around $19.56, reflecting strong recent momentum in the stock.
• Recent earnings were solid, with EPS of $0.27 beating estimates and revenue of $159.5 million topping expectations, while revenue rose 47.5% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: several firms have downgraded the stock to Hold, though Oppenheimer raised its target to $21 and still has an outperform rating; the consensus target is $18.47.

WisdomTree, Inc. (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $19.85 and last traded at $19.5640, with a volume of 166901 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.41.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of WisdomTree from a "buy (b)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of WisdomTree from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded WisdomTree from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $18.00 price objective on WisdomTree in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on WisdomTree from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $18.47.

WisdomTree Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $16.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $14.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.37, a current ratio of 4.57 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The stock has a market cap of $2.94 billion, a PE ratio of 46.98 and a beta of 1.13.

WisdomTree (NYSE:WT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, May 1st. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $159.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.96 million. WisdomTree had a net margin of 11.26% and a return on equity of 33.31%. The company's revenue was up 47.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.16 EPS. Equities analysts predict that WisdomTree, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WisdomTree Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.03 per share. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. WisdomTree's dividend payout ratio is 29.27%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO R Jarrett Lilien sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.84, for a total value of $505,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,140,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,201,725.80. This represents a 2.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider David M. Yates sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.06, for a total value of $270,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 157,499 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,844,431.94. The trade was a 8.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 10.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of WisdomTree by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 854,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,878,000 after buying an additional 279,296 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in WisdomTree by 18.8% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 469,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,520,000 after buying an additional 74,070 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL raised its stake in WisdomTree by 18.7% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 591,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,218,000 after buying an additional 93,094 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in WisdomTree during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,248,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in WisdomTree by 123.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,968,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,362,000 after buying an additional 1,087,460 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.64% of the company's stock.

WisdomTree Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.