Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Buys 4,966 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 11.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 47,720 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $5,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WPM. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Delta Asset Management LLC TN bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 40.0% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter valued at about $73,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $135.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.50 billion, a PE ratio of 61.57, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.67. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a one year low of $56.70 and a one year high of $135.72.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.03. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 13.32%. The firm had revenue of $476.26 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $495.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 54.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 20th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 30.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WPM shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. CIBC upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.78.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company’s activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.