Fmr LLC Boosts Stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Fmr LLC grew its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,529,219 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 863,306 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $873,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WPM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their target price 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. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

WPM stock opened at $70.74 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $70.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $64.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.79, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $49.41 and a fifty-two week high of $80.43.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released 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). The business had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.74 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 1st. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 56.90%.

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.