Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Shares Sold by Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.

Key Points

• Montrusco Bolton Investments reduced its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 16.9%, selling 39,407 shares and leaving it with 194,388 shares valued at about $22.9 million per the latest 13F filing.
• Wheaton surpassed quarterly expectations with $1.22 EPS vs. $0.91 consensus and revenue of $864.7M (up 127% YoY), while analysts remain broadly positive—consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $155.45 and several recent upgrades.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.195 (annualized $0.78), implying a yield around 0.6% and a dividend payout ratio near 24%.

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. lowered its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 194,388 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,407 shares during the quarter. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.'s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $22,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 220 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Zacks Research lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $155.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 1.5%

WPM opened at $139.39 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $63.30 billion, a PE ratio of 43.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.60. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $75.42 and a 1 year high of $165.76. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $141.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $864.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $719.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. Wheaton Precious Metals's quarterly revenue was up 127.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Wheaton Precious Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.07%.

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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