Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 55.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 294,909 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 105,573 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Wheaton Precious Metals worth $16,591,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WPM. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $20,790,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 955,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,422,000 after acquiring an additional 36,970 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 163,514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,196,000 after purchasing an additional 26,924 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 42.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 133,627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,170,000 after purchasing an additional 39,979 shares during the period. Finally, DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 44.9% during the third quarter. DF Dent & Co. Inc. now owns 45,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM opened at $76.86 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 12 month low of $47.02 and a 12 month high of $77.86. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $68.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.78. The stock has a market cap of $34.87 billion, a PE ratio of 57.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 13th. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.45 by ($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company had revenue of $380.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $395.74 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. This is a positive change from Wheaton Precious Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 1st. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WPM. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $72.44.

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.