Groupe la Francaise Raises Stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Groupe la Francaise increased its Wheaton Precious Metals stake by 9.7% in the second quarter, bringing its holdings to 305,000 shares valued at approximately $34.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70.34% of WPM.
• Analysts remain broadly optimistic, with 12 Buy ratings and one Hold rating. Wheaton has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $165.55, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Wheaton reported quarterly earnings of $1.19 per share, ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 84.7% year over year to $878 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.195 per share, or $0.78 annualized.

Groupe la Francaise increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 305,000 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,975 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise owned approximately 0.07% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $34,324,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WPM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $864,977,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $581,250,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $351,708,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $328,309,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter worth about $320,838,000. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WPM. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Berenberg Bank set a $157.00 price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $165.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $154.94 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $126.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.44. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $92.57 and a 52 week high of $165.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 64.66% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $878.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $879.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 84.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th were issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 20th. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.