Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: 14 brokerages give Wheaton Precious Metals a "Moderate Buy" (12 buys, 2 holds) with an average 12‑month price target of about $145.18.
• Earnings beat: WPM reported Q earnings of $1.22 per share vs. $0.91 expected and revenue of $864.7M (up 127% YoY), and analysts forecast roughly $1.46 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Dividend and ownership: The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 (annualized $0.78, yield ~0.7%) and is heavily institutionally owned (about 70.3%).

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $145.1818.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WPM shares. Zacks Research lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $175.00 to $178.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Sunday, December 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 220 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 100.0% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Navalign LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $114.37 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.50. Wheaton Precious Metals has a one year low of $68.03 and a one year high of $165.76. The company's 50-day moving average is $143.36 and its 200 day moving average is $120.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.31. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 63.58% and a return on equity of 17.17%. The business had revenue of $864.71 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $719.59 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.44 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 127.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Wheaton Precious Metals's payout ratio is 20.37%.

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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