Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)’s share price gapped down before the market opened 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 traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. National Bankshares reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, CIBC increased their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.90.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Down 7.9%

The stock has a market capitalization of $35.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.94, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $77.91 and a 200 day moving average of $67.74.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $470.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $446.33 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 50.05%. The business’s revenue was up 58.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals during the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. NBT Bank N A NY increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 129.3% in the first quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 70.34% of the stock is owned by 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.