NFJ Investment Group LLC Sells 519 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

NFJ Investment Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,723 shares of the company’s stock after selling 519 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Finward Bancorp purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $641,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 519.4% in the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 21,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 18,054 shares during the period. Rossby Financial LCC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth $603,000. Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 11,780 shares of the company’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth about $790,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WPM. Stifel Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $129.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.40.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE WPM opened at $84.16 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.18 billion, a PE ratio of 62.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $50.91 and a 1-year high of $86.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.28 and a 200-day moving average of $65.42.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. 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 was paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.90%.

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.