Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday . 4,122,401 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 84% from the previous session’s volume of 2,239,810 shares.The stock last traded at $145.47 and had previously closed at $132.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WPM shares. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 9.0%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.20. The stock has a market cap of $65.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 64.66% and a return on equity of 21.97%. The company had revenue of $878.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $879.29 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 84.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.195 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.29%.

Institutional Trading of Wheaton Precious Metals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WPM. Stack Financial Management Inc acquired a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,118,000. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 294,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,895,000 after purchasing an additional 8,455 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 1,402.0% in the 4th quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 32,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,763,000 after purchasing an additional 29,891 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 489.7% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 74,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,631,000 after purchasing an additional 61,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pecaut & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,297,000. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. is a Canada-based precious metals streaming company that acquires and manages long-term purchase agreements for metals produced by mining companies. Rather than operating mines, Wheaton provides upfront and ongoing financing to miners in exchange for the right to purchase a portion of the metals produced — typically silver and gold, and occasionally other precious metals — at predetermined prices. This streaming business model offers investors exposure to metal production with reduced operating and capital-cost risk compared with traditional mining companies.

The company’s activities center on structuring and maintaining a diversified portfolio of streaming agreements across multiple jurisdictions.