Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Holdings Lowered by Barings LLC

Key Points

• Barings LLC cut its Wheaton Precious Metals stake by 28.5% in the first quarter, selling 107,937 shares and leaving it with 270,943 shares valued at about $35.6 million.
• WPM shares were down 3.9% in Friday trading, opening at $104.28, while the stock remains below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.28 EPS on $901.47 million in revenue, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.195 per share.

Barings LLC decreased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 28.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,943 shares of the company's stock after selling 107,937 shares during the quarter. Wheaton Precious Metals accounts for about 0.6% of Barings LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Barings LLC owned 0.06% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $35,572,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,079,029 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,242,969,000 after purchasing an additional 289,939 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,469,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,700,517,000 after buying an additional 1,402,092 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,595,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,650,000 after buying an additional 93,599 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $864,977,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake 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 worth $857,598,000 after acquiring an additional 33,221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 3.9%

WPM stock opened at $104.28 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $47.35 billion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.55. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $87.96 and a 1 year high of $165.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $121.24 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.14.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $901.47 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals's payout ratio is presently 19.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WPM shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $161.09.

Wheaton Precious Metals 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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