Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

WPM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $114.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Berenberg Bank lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.78.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 3.0%

NYSE:WPM opened at $128.44 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 12-month low of $55.51 and a 12-month high of $129.99. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.52.

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

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 20th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 20th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Aventura Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.