Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Acquires 413,859 Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 66.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,040,429 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 413,859 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $116,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,469,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,700,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402,092 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,595,725 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,650,000 after purchasing an additional 93,599 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $864,977,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 7,285,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $857,598,000 after purchasing an additional 33,221 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,061,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $830,134,000 after purchasing an additional 605,415 shares during the period. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 2.9%

WPM opened at $153.48 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $92.57 and a fifty-two week high of $165.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.54 and its 200 day moving average is $131.28.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 21.97% and a net margin of 64.66%.The firm had revenue of $878.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $879.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 20th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 17.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on WPM shares. Berenberg Bank set a $157.00 target price on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.55.

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.