Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Shares Bought by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 86.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,946 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,010 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised 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 in the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Navalign LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WPM. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Bank of America cut their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 target price for the company. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.09.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $108.62 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $122.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.37. The firm has a market cap of $49.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $87.96 and a 1 year high of $165.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.8 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.70%.

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.