Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analyst consensus: 14 analysts rate Wheaton Precious Metals a "Moderate Buy" (13 buys, 1 hold) with an average 12-month price target of $155.45; recent action includes UBS upgrading to buy and TD Cowen raising its target to $165.
• Earnings beat: The company reported Q1 EPS of $1.22 vs. $0.91 expected and revenue of $864.7M vs. $719.6M, a 127% year-over-year revenue increase with a 63.6% net margin and 17.2% ROE.
• Dividend and valuation: Wheaton raised its quarterly dividend to $0.195 ($0.78 annualized, 0.5% yield); the stock trades near $147.81 with a $67.1B market cap, a P/E of 45.6, and roughly 70.3% institutional ownership.

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $155.4545.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $160.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $164.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 220 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 100.0% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 234 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE:WPM opened at $147.81 on Thursday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $141.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.98. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 52 week low of $75.42 and a 52 week high of $165.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $67.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.60.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 12th. The company reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $864.71 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $719.59 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 127.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost 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 24.07%.

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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