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

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.30.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on WPM shares. CIBC increased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Raymond James dropped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Securities raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WPM opened at $54.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.48 billion, a PE ratio of 45.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.28 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.43. Wheaton Precious Metals has a fifty-two week low of $38.37 and a fifty-two week high of $54.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. The firm had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.29 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 2nd. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 52.10%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Eagle Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 21,110,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,041,589,000 after purchasing an additional 112,178 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,012,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,031 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,497,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $813,989,000 after purchasing an additional 294,488 shares during the period. FIL Ltd grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,646,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,235,000 after purchasing an additional 550,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $387,481,000. 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.