Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Key Points

• Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 78.6% in Q4, acquiring an additional 81,200 shares to hold 184,500 shares worth $21.68 million.
• Wheaton beat quarterly expectations, reporting $1.22 EPS vs. $0.91 consensus and revenue of $864.71 million (up 127.3% year-over-year) versus analysts' $719.59 million estimate.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 (annualized $0.78) from $0.17, implying a dividend yield of about 0.6%.

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 78.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,500 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 81,200 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $21,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the company's stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 5,375 shares of the company's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,460 shares of the company's stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Wealth Partners LLC now owns 22,096 shares of the company's stock worth $2,597,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Inc. OK boosted its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital Advisors Inc. OK now owns 5,437 shares of the company's stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of WPM stock opened at $139.39 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $141.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.55. The stock has a market cap of $63.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.02, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a twelve month low of $75.42 and a twelve month high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $864.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $719.59 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 63.58% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The company's revenue was up 127.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.83 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 31st. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.07%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on WPM shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 28th. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $155.45.

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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