Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $20.79 Million in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 369,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,790,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,534,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,154,843,000 after acquiring an additional 1,231,999 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 33.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,665,913 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,692,594 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 22.5% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 3,456,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,207,000 after purchasing an additional 634,843 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 21.3% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,923,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,551,000 after purchasing an additional 513,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 2,541,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,356,000 after purchasing an additional 267,973 shares in the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

WPM stock opened at $73.82 on Monday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $43.18 and a fifty-two week high of $74.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $64.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.70. The company has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $380.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $395.74 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is an increase from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, November 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $78.00 price target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $71.67.

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.