26,839 Shares in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. $WPM Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 26,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals by 17.6% in the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 79,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,828,000 after acquiring an additional 11,903 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 356.0% in the first quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 20,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,676,000 after acquiring an additional 15,926 shares during the last quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 3.0% during the first quarter. Euro Pacific Asset Management LLC now owns 294,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,895,000 after acquiring an additional 8,455 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.9% during the first quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 3,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 245.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 228 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $163.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $240.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from $180.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Wheaton Precious Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, July 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.09.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of Wheaton Precious Metals stock opened at $104.16 on Monday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a 1-year low of $87.96 and a 1-year high of $165.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $132.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.30 billion, a PE ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.55.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.04. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 20.20% and a net margin of 65.55%.The firm had revenue of $901.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $868.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. Wheaton Precious Metals’s revenue was up 91.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 9th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 27th were issued a dividend of $0.195 per share. This represents a $0.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 27th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is currently 19.70%.

Wheaton Precious Metals Profile

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.