Brokerages Set Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) PT at $53.10

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

Several research firms have commented on WPM. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. National Bank Financial downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. TD Securities raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Berenberg Bank increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of WPM opened at $52.48 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.10, a P/E/G ratio of 7.23 and a beta of 0.77. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 12-month low of $38.37 and a 12-month high of $54.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $45.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.15.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $313.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 52.92% and a return on equity of 7.76%. Analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were paid a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.10%.

Institutional Trading of Wheaton Precious Metals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 21,110,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,589,000 after acquiring an additional 112,178 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,646,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $525,235,000 after purchasing an additional 550,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth about $387,481,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.