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

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $157.6364.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WPM shares. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. TD Securities lifted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sprott Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 1,151,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,928,000 after acquiring an additional 33,076 shares during the period. LBP AM SA lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 632.2% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 119,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,085,000 after purchasing an additional 103,485 shares during the last quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC acquired a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $2,052,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 365,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,726,000 after buying an additional 59,153 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,202,980 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,512,000 after acquiring an additional 193,292 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 2.4%

Shares of NYSE:WPM traded down $2.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $112.44. 570,656 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,353,159. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $124.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $132.79. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 52 week low of $85.59 and a 52 week high of $165.76. The company has a market cap of $51.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.Wheaton Precious Metals’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.195 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is presently 19.70%.

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.