Brokerages Set Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) Price Target at $130.78

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $130.7778.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Sunday, December 7th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, October 23rd.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $124.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.78, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.52. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 52 week low of $55.51 and a 52 week high of $126.54.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $476.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $495.53 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 13.32% and a net margin of 54.72%.The business’s revenue was up 54.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.34 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 30.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the first quarter valued at about $331,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,885,000. Scientech Research LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 21.0% during the first quarter. Scientech Research LLC now owns 8,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $626,000 after purchasing an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the first quarter worth approximately $538,000. Finally, United Services Automobile Association raised its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.2% in the first quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 15,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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.