UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Trims Stock Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lessened its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 22.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Canada upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WPM opened at $77.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.94, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $47.02 and a 52 week high of $78.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.84 and a 200 day moving average of $63.92.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS 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 business had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $395.74 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This is a boost from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 56.90%.

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.