Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Wheaton Precious Metals (TSE:WPM) to Sector Perform

Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSE:WPM – Get Rating) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a research report released on Tuesday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have C$45.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of C$50.00.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on WPM. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Wheaton Precious Metals from C$67.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 4th. National Bank Financial upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals to C$80.00 in a report on Monday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from C$66.00 to C$75.00 in a report on Thursday, April 20th. National Bankshares lifted their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from C$72.50 to C$80.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Monday, May 8th. Finally, CSFB decreased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from C$65.00 to C$60.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

WPM opened at C$62.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of C$28.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.45. Wheaton Precious Metals has a fifty-two week low of C$39.05 and a fifty-two week high of C$71.39. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$66.22 and its 200 day moving average price is C$59.17. The company has a quick ratio of 17.67, a current ratio of 9.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Wheaton Precious Metals (TSE:WPM – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported C$0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$0.32 by C($0.01). Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 9.47% and a net margin of 64.08%. The business had revenue of C$320.49 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$326.23 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wheaton Precious Metals will post 1.5584353 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.203 per share. This represents a $0.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 18th. Wheaton Precious Metals’s payout ratio is 43.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Chantal Gosselin sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$65.70, for a total value of C$197,085.00. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company Profile

(Get Rating)

Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., a streaming company, primarily sells precious metals in Canada and internationally. The company sells gold, silver, palladium, and cobalt deposits. It has a portfolio of interests in the 23 operating mines and 13 development projects. The company was formerly known as Silver Wheaton Corp.