Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $54.30.

WPM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Securities raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $387,481,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,517,000 after buying an additional 1,856,031 shares during the last quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 426.7% in the 4th quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. now owns 957,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,460,000 after buying an additional 775,588 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,585,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,583,000 after buying an additional 713,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,190,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $157,587,000 after buying an additional 694,583 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM opened at $53.73 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a PE ratio of 45.15, a PEG ratio of 7.36 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.35 and its 200-day moving average is $46.28. Wheaton Precious Metals has a fifty-two week low of $38.37 and a fifty-two week high of $54.30.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 52.92% and a return on equity of 7.76%. Analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were issued a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 2nd. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.10%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.