Park National Corp OH Takes Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH initiated a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) of 10,500 shares valued at about $1.234M in Q4, while several large institutions (notably Norges Bank ~$656M, MIRAE, Arrowstreet, BMO and Invesco) also initiated or materially increased stakes, leaving institutional ownership at 70.34%.
• Wheaton delivered a strong quarter with EPS $1.22 vs. $0.91 consensus and revenue of $864.7M (up 127.3% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 (annualized $0.78, ~0.7% yield).
• Analyst sentiment is largely positive — 12 Buys and 2 Holds — giving a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.18, with recent targets as high as $165.00.

Park National Corp OH acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,234,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $656,463,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 36.2% in the 3rd quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,955,810 shares of the company's stock valued at $777,938,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,977 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,197,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,459,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,572 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 26.1% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,455,675 shares of the company's stock worth $722,270,000 after buying an additional 1,335,588 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 139.8% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,085,042 shares of the company's stock worth $187,237,000 after buying an additional 1,215,660 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. UBS Group reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Friday, January 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, TD Securities upped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.18.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPM opened at $114.37 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52-week low of $68.03 and a 52-week high of $165.76. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $143.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.37. The firm has a market cap of $51.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.30, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.31. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 17.17% and a net margin of 63.58%.The firm had revenue of $864.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $719.59 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 127.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is currently 20.37%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

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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