Before you get too excited by that headline, note that a 30% hike in the dividend at Wheaton Precious Metals (WPM) will bring the payout to just 13 cents for the first quarter of 2021.
But that’s still, as my grandmother used to say, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
At the least it’s a vote of confidence by the company’s board of directors that they see strong revenue and earnings growth in the year ahead. (Wheaton Precious Metals doesn’t actually do any mining itself. Instead it purchases a stream of production from miners of precious metals and cobalt. So confidence in strong revenue from these production streams is an indicator of confidence in rising commodity prices. Wheaton Precious Metals currently has 20 purchase agreements tied to 17 different mining companies.)
The company’s dividend policy is to pay out approximately 30% of the average cash generated by operating activities in the previous four quarters. The current 13 cents a share dividend is a minimum for 2021.
The stock is a member of my Volatility Portfolio on my JubakAM.Com and JugglingWithKnives.com subscription sites where the position is upon 76.16% since I initiated that position on June 15, 2018.
