Reviewing Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) & Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY)

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) and Impala Platinum (OTCMKTS:IMPUY) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, dividends, risk, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Wheaton Precious Metals has a beta of 0.52, meaning that its stock price is 48% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Impala Platinum has a beta of 0.8, meaning that its stock price is 20% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Wheaton Precious Metals pays an annual dividend of $0.66 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Impala Platinum pays an annual dividend of $0.07 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Wheaton Precious Metals pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Wheaton Precious Metals has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Wheaton Precious Metals is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Wheaton Precious Metals and Impala Platinum, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Wheaton Precious Metals	0	1	10	1	3.00
Impala Platinum	0	0	2	1	3.33

Wheaton Precious Metals currently has a consensus price target of $140.44, suggesting a potential downside of 3.80%. Impala Platinum has a consensus price target of $23.00, suggesting a potential upside of 31.73%. Given Impala Platinum’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Impala Platinum is more favorable than Wheaton Precious Metals.

Profitability

This table compares Wheaton Precious Metals and Impala Platinum’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Wheaton Precious Metals	54.72%	13.32%	12.89%
Impala Platinum	N/A	N/A	N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

70.3% of Wheaton Precious Metals shares are held by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Wheaton Precious Metals and Impala Platinum”s gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Wheaton Precious Metals	$1.28 billion	51.60	$529.14 million	$2.20	66.36
Impala Platinum	$4.71 billion	3.33	$41.85 million	N/A	N/A

Wheaton Precious Metals has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Impala Platinum.

Summary

Wheaton Precious Metals beats Impala Platinum on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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. was founded in 2004 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.

About Impala Platinum

Impala Platinum Holdings Limited engages in the mining, processing, concentrating, refining, and sale of platinum group metals (PGMs) and associated base metals. The company produces platinum, palladium, rhodium, nickel, and by-products, as well as ruthenium, iridium, and gold. It has operations on the PGM-bearing orebodies, including the Bushveld Complex located in South Africa; and the Great Dyke situated in Zimbabwe, as well as the Canadian Shield. The company markets and sells its products in South Africa, Japan, China, the United States, and Europe. Impala Platinum Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1957 and is based in Sandton, South Africa.