Rathbones Group PLC Acquires 530 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Rathbones Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,993 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 24,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,389,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 11,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,027 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $70.56 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $70.81 and its 200-day moving average is $64.48. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $49.43 and a 52 week high of $80.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.01 billion, a PE ratio of 52.65, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WPM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

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.