Howland Capital Management LLC Invests $754,000 in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Howland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 16,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WPM. First Eagle Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. First Eagle Investment Management LLC now owns 21,110,441 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,041,589,000 after purchasing an additional 112,178 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,521,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,012,517,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,031 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,497,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $813,989,000 after acquiring an additional 294,488 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 10,646,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $525,235,000 after acquiring an additional 550,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter worth about $387,481,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals stock traded up $0.94 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,943,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,902,147. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 52 week low of $38.37 and a 52 week high of $59.67. The company has a market capitalization of $26.88 billion, a PE ratio of 44.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.73.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 9th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by $0.07. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 53.74%. The business had revenue of $296.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $278.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 38.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.29 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 29th were given a $0.155 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 29th. This represents a $0.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WPM. Bank of America increased their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $59.00 to $66.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. TD Securities raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Monday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Berenberg Bank boosted their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wheaton Precious Metals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.33.

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.