Independent Financial Group LLC Invests $687,000 in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $687,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $864,977,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,912,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,951,000 after buying an additional 1,715,540 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,469,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,700,517,000 after buying an additional 1,402,092 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1,655.4% in the third quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 1,245,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,333,000 after buying an additional 1,174,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 2,621.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 903,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,239,000 after buying an additional 870,476 shares in the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of WPM opened at $111.46 on Thursday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12-month low of $90.39 and a 12-month high of $165.76. The company has a market cap of $50.62 billion, a PE ratio of 28.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $118.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.84.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $901.47 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $868.35 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 65.55% and a return on equity of 20.20%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s revenue for the quarter was up 91.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were paid a $0.195 dividend. This represents a $0.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 19.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WPM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wheaton Precious Metals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $161.09.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

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.