Royal Bank of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Stock

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) had its price target boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stifel Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.50.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 9.6 %

NYSE:WPM opened at $70.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $70.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.28. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 12-month low of $49.41 and a 12-month high of $80.43. The firm has a market cap of $32.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.98, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is presently 56.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 494.9% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 696 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 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.