Employees Retirement System of Texas Makes New $7.80 Million Investment in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Employees Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 13,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,800,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,154,843,000 after buying an additional 1,231,999 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,672,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $994,733,000 after purchasing an additional 281,123 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,529,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,995,000 after purchasing an additional 863,306 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $472,648,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,156,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,627,000 after purchasing an additional 629,743 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Down 9.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WPM opened at $70.99 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $70.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $64.32. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $49.41 and a 12-month high of $80.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.74 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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