Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Sells 90,189 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Hillsdale Investment Management cut its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 23.7% in the first quarter, selling 90,189 shares and leaving it with 290,075 shares worth about $38.1 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with about 70.34% of Wheaton Precious Metals held by institutional investors; Vanguard, VanEck, Capital International Investors, Norges Bank, and TD Asset Management all reported sizable positions.
• Analysts remain generally positive on WPM, with 12 Buy ratings and one Hold, giving it a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price of $161.55 despite some recent target cuts.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 23.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 290,075 shares of the company's stock after selling 90,189 shares during the quarter. Wheaton Precious Metals accounts for about 1.0% of Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $38,067,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,079,029 shares of the company's stock worth $2,242,969,000 after acquiring an additional 289,939 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,469,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,700,517,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402,092 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,595,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,650,000 after purchasing an additional 93,599 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at $864,977,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,285,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $857,598,000 after purchasing an additional 33,221 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPM has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price objective on the stock. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

NYSE:WPM opened at $107.94 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $122.63 and a 200-day moving average of $132.46. The company has a market capitalization of $49.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.55. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $87.96 and a 52 week high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.78 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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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