Scotiabank Raises Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Price Target to $79.00

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) had its price objective upped by Scotiabank from $78.00 to $79.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Monday, November 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $78.00 target price for the company. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $72.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

NYSE WPM opened at $76.28 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $65.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.99. Wheaton Precious Metals has a twelve month low of $43.18 and a twelve month high of $77.44. The stock has a market cap of $34.61 billion, a PE ratio of 56.93, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.76.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The company had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.25%.

Institutional Trading of Wheaton Precious Metals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WPM. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.