Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Declares Dividend Increase - $0.20 Per Share

Key Points

• Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 per share—an 18.2% increase from $0.17—with a record date of March 31 and payment on April 10 (about a 0.5% yield, $0.66 annualized).
• WPM posted a strong quarter with $1.22 EPS versus $0.91 expected and revenue of $864.7M (up 127.3% year‑over‑year); analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $140.44 target as the stock trades near $145.66 and a market cap of ~$66.1B.

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.195 per share on Friday, April 10th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a 18.2% increase from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17.

Wheaton Precious Metals has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Wheaton Precious Metals has a payout ratio of 29.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Wheaton Precious Metals to earn $1.83 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.1%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WPM traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $145.66. 237,244 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,373,129. Wheaton Precious Metals has a twelve month low of $68.03 and a twelve month high of $165.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.87, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.50. The business's fifty day moving average price is $142.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.02.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $864.71 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $719.59 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 54.72% and a return on equity of 13.32%. Wheaton Precious Metals's revenue was up 127.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WPM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Zacks Research downgraded 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 issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, January 26th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $140.44.

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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