2,853,138 Shares in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Acquired by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,853,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $320,838,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $864,977,000. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at $581,250,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at $310,738,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at $310,372,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 5,912,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $694,951,000 after purchasing an additional 1,715,540 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on WPM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $165.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $182.00 to $177.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $165.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Up 2.2%

Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $163.66 on Wednesday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $130.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.55. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $92.57 and a 52 week high of $165.76.

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

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

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

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.