Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 413,859 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management increased its Wheaton Precious Metals stake by 66.1%, purchasing 413,859 shares to hold 1.04 million shares valued at approximately $116.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 70.34% of WPM.
• Analysts maintain a bullish outlook, with 12 Buy ratings and one Hold rating. The stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $165.55.
• Wheaton reported quarterly EPS of $1.19, exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 84.7% year over year to $878 million. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.195, or $0.78 annualized, representing a 0.5% yield.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 66.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,040,429 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 413,859 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.23% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $116,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. Parvin Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Parvin Asset Management LLC now owns 11,925 shares of the company's stock worth $1,401,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,203 shares of the company's stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,079 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 27,105 shares of the company's stock worth $3,185,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WPM shares. Berenberg Bank set a $157.00 target price on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $165.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM opened at $153.48 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.54 and a 200-day moving average of $131.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $69.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.55. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $92.57 and a 1 year high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $878.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $879.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 64.66%.The firm's revenue was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is currently 17.29%.

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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