Is Wheaton Precious Metals Stock a Buy?
Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE: WPM) is one of the larger streaming and royalty companies, competing with peers like Franco-Nevada (NYSE: FNV) and Royal Gold (NASDAQ: RGLD). While it effectively operates in the gold and silver space, it isn't a miner. That changes the equation for investors in some important ways. If you are looking to add precious metals to your portfolio, Wheaton could be a good fit. Here's what you need to know.
Building a gold or silver mine is very expensive. It is also very risky. The process basically involves finding a location that might contain precious metals, getting approval to build a mine, building the mine, operating that mine until the mine is no longer profitable, and then, usually, returning the mine site back to its pre-mine state. Things can go wrong during any one of the steps on that list.
Image source: Getty Images.
Source Fool.com
