Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Hits New 1-Year High at $54.45

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $54.45 and last traded at $53.95, with a volume of 167296 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.73.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. TD Securities raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.32.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 0.4 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $24.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.37 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $46.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.28.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 7.76% and a net margin of 52.92%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were given a $0.155 dividend. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 2nd. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.10%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Mechanics Financial Corp lifted its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 200.0% in the third quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 230.7% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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.