Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) is Van ECK Associates Corp’s 6th Largest Position

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,856,031 shares during the period. Wheaton Precious Metals comprises about 1.8% of Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,012,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sprott Inc. raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.8% during the third quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 799,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,421,000 after purchasing an additional 36,654 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 408,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,153,000 after buying an additional 97,535 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 3,623,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,918,000 after buying an additional 152,826 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 98.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 71,667 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on WPM. Berenberg Bank upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $61.00 to $59.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. National Bank Financial lowered Wheaton Precious Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $59.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.32.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

NYSE:WPM traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $53.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,079,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,142,932. The stock has a market cap of $24.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.01, a P/E/G ratio of 7.32 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.73 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.50. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a twelve month low of $38.37 and a twelve month high of $54.45.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 14th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 52.92% and a return on equity of 7.76%. The business had revenue of $313.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $284.29 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.155 per share. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.16%. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 2nd. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.10%.

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.