Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) & Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) Head to Head Comparison

Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) and Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability and earnings.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Impala Platinum has a beta of 0.8, indicating that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.52, indicating that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Impala Platinum and Wheaton Precious Metals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Impala Platinum	0	0	2	1	3.33
Wheaton Precious Metals	0	1	10	1	3.00

Impala Platinum presently has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 24.59%. Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus price target of $140.44, suggesting a potential downside of 5.36%. Given Impala Platinum’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Impala Platinum is more favorable than Wheaton Precious Metals.

Profitability

This table compares Impala Platinum and Wheaton Precious Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Impala Platinum	N/A	N/A	N/A
Wheaton Precious Metals	54.72%	13.32%	12.89%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Impala Platinum and Wheaton Precious Metals”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Impala Platinum	$4.71 billion	3.55	$41.85 million	N/A	N/A
Wheaton Precious Metals	$1.28 billion	52.45	$529.14 million	$2.20	67.46

Wheaton Precious Metals has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Impala Platinum.

Dividends

Impala Platinum pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Wheaton Precious Metals pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Wheaton Precious Metals pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wheaton Precious Metals has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Wheaton Precious Metals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats Impala Platinum on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Impala Platinum

Impala Platinum Holdings Limited engages in the mining, processing, concentrating, refining, and sale of platinum group metals (PGMs) and associated base metals. The company produces platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, and by-products, as well as ruthenium, iridium, and gold. It has operations on the PGM-bearing orebodies, including the Bushveld Complex located in South Africa; and the Great Dyke situated in Zimbabwe, as well as the Canadian Shield. The company markets and sells its products in South Africa, Japan, China, the United States, and Europe. Impala Platinum Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1957 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.

About Wheaton Precious Metals

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. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.