Clearbridge Investments LLC Grows Stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 90.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,344,131 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 638,425 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $70,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter worth $47,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WPM. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Securities lowered their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $71.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.63.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

WPM opened at $61.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.42, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.02 and a 200 day moving average of $55.74. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $38.37 and a fifty-two week high of $64.82.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.54% and a net margin of 50.44%. The firm had revenue of $299.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $309.54 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 21st were given a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 21st. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.69%.

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.