Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $74.50.

WPM has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 4.6 %

WPM opened at $78.05 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 12-month low of $49.71 and a 12-month high of $80.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.25, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.56 and a 200-day moving average of $64.73.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 56.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $20,790,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after buying an additional 8,331 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 163,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,196,000 after acquiring an additional 26,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 133,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after acquiring an additional 39,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 44.9% during the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 45,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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.