Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,672,518 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 281,123 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 3.90% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $994,733,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $20,790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 955,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,422,000 after purchasing an additional 36,970 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 163,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,196,000 after purchasing an additional 26,924 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 42.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 133,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after buying an additional 39,979 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 44.9% in the 3rd quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 45,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 0.3 %

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $76.86 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $47.02 and a 12-month high of $77.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.44 and a 200 day moving average of $63.75.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on WPM shares. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $72.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals Profile

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. primarily sells precious metals in North America, Europe, and South America. It produces and sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp. and changed its name to Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. in May 2017. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.