Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Given Consensus Rating of "Buy" by Brokerages

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Buy" from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.50.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on WPM shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research 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 research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $472,648,000. Capital International Investors acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $263,810,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth $72,657,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company's stock worth $1,154,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 54.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,223,154 shares of the company's stock valued at $181,227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,135,699 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

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Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WPM traded up $3.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,320,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,647,545. The company has a market cap of $35.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.25, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74. The business's 50-day moving average price is $71.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.73. Wheaton Precious Metals has a fifty-two week low of $49.71 and a fifty-two week high of $80.43.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $395.74 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The firm'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 EPS. Analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.165 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. 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.