Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Invests $3.85 Million in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System has invested $3.85 million in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., acquiring 42,754 shares of the company.
• Wheaton Precious Metals recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $0.66 and a yield of 0.6%.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Wheaton Precious Metals, with a target price set at $109.75.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 42,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,848,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of WPM. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 57.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,097,735 shares of the company's stock worth $162,811,000 after buying an additional 766,947 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.2% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,745,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $215,557,000 after purchasing an additional 683,674 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the first quarter valued at about $50,430,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the first quarter valued at about $36,885,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.2% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 5,072,786 shares of the company's stock valued at $393,800,000 after purchasing an additional 470,651 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Wednesday. Finally, National Bankshares reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.75.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

NYSE WPM opened at $103.39 on Friday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $102.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.14. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12 month low of $55.47 and a 12 month high of $114.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.76, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.41.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 47.46% and a return on equity of 11.96%. The company had revenue of $503.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $424.23 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Wheaton Precious Metals's revenue for the quarter was up 68.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 21st. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is currently 38.15%.

Wheaton Precious Metals 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.

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