Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) Lowered to “Hold” Rating by Zacks Research

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, January 26th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised Wheaton Precious Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $115.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.44.

Wheaton Precious Metals Price Performance

Shares of WPM stock opened at $147.06 on Thursday. Wheaton Precious Metals has a 1-year low of $68.03 and a 1-year high of $165.76. The company has a market cap of $66.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $140.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Wheaton Precious Metals during the 1st quarter worth $331,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 10.7% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 11,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,081 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 1st quarter valued at about $209,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the second quarter valued at about $239,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 71,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,466,000 after acquiring an additional 5,212 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Wheaton Precious Metals Company 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.