Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $85.77, but opened at $81.74. Wheaton Precious Metals shares last traded at $79.95, with a volume of 504,676 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WPM has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. National Bankshares reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, CIBC lifted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.90.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $35.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $77.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $67.74.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $470.41 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $446.33 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 58.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 28th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wheaton Precious Metals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. NBT Bank N A NY lifted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 129.3% during the 1st quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 1st quarter valued at about $49,000. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the 1st quarter valued at about $52,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new stake in Wheaton Precious Metals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

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.