Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $64.82, but opened at $62.50. Wheaton Precious Metals shares last traded at $61.77, with a volume of 361,104 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. National Bank Financial upgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $66.50 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Stifel Canada downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $67.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.88.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $62.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.75. The stock has a market cap of $27.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.54, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.77.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 8th. The company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. The company had revenue of $308.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $324.57 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 50.05% and a return on equity of 8.85%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.155 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $0.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.27%.

Institutional Trading of Wheaton Precious Metals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Wheaton Precious Metals by 19.6% in the first quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 1,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.