Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Holdings Boosted by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,214,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,042 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $378,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $445,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Cumberland Partners Ltd purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $794,000. Nano Cap New Millennium Growth Fund L P purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $379,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WPM shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $178.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $155.64.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE:WPM opened at $130.27 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $133.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $130.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.50. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $84.46 and a 12-month high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.70%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Profile

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.