Dudley & Shanley Inc. Boosts Stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Dudley & Shanley Inc. increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,456,465 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 22,000 shares during the period. Wheaton Precious Metals accounts for about 11.6% of Dudley & Shanley Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Dudley & Shanley Inc. owned about 0.32% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $68,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 21,110,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,589,000 after acquiring an additional 112,178 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,517,000 after buying an additional 1,856,031 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,497,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,989,000 after buying an additional 294,488 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,646,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,235,000 after buying an additional 550,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $387,481,000. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of WPM traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $54.52. 723,560 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,911,541. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1 year low of $38.37 and a 1 year high of $57.87. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $54.24 and its 200-day moving average is $49.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.29 by $0.07. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 53.74%. The firm had revenue of $296.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $278.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 38.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.155 dividend. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 47.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WPM shares. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. TD Securities raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. CIBC increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $59.00 to $66.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

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.