Ethic Inc. Acquires 7,894 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 88.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 7,894 additional shares and bringing its total to 16,823 shares worth about $1.98 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on WPM, with 13 Buy ratings and one Hold; recent updates included UBS upgrading the stock to Buy and BMO Capital Markets initiating coverage with an Outperform rating and a $240 price target.
• Wheaton Precious Metals reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $1.28 beating estimates and revenue rising 91.7% year over year to $901.47 million; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.195 per share.

Ethic Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,823 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,894 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.4% in the third quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 809,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,886,000 after purchasing an additional 69,496 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 68,485 shares of the company's stock worth $7,659,000 after buying an additional 19,050 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 3rd quarter worth $11,355,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 207,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,210,000 after buying an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,252,054 shares of the company's stock valued at $811,726,000 after buying an additional 244,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities boosted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. UBS Group upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 0.7%

WPM stock opened at $142.82 on Wednesday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $75.42 and a 1-year high of $165.76. The firm has a market cap of $64.86 billion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.50. The business's 50-day moving average price is $137.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $127.78.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.The company had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.70%.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company's activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.

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