Silver Wheaton may soon be named Wheaton Precious Metals

The Vancouver-based precious metals streaming company said its bullion production has steadily increased since 2013, to the point that its revenue was evenly split between silver and gold in the second half last year.

Streaming, something that Silver Wheaton pioneered in 2014, means that a firm typically provides a chunk of cash upfront to mining companies to secure a “stream” of precious metals down the road. These sorts of deals have become increasingly popular of late, as miners have had great difficulty raising cash on stock and bond markets.

Shareholders will be asked to support the name change at the firm’s annual meeting in May. If approved, the firm will also replace its TSX and NYSE ticker symbol from SLW to WPM.

Silver Wheaton also reported fourth-quarter net income of $10.9 million, a significant recovery from the loss it registered in the same period a year earlier.

Net income was of 2 cents per share, while earnings — adjusted for asset impairment costs — were 19 cents per share, exceeding Wall Street expectations.

The firm noted revenue for the quarter rose 29% to $258 million. This was up from $200 million last year.

The company’s stock has risen around 10% since the beginning of the year. It was up more than 8% Wednesday in Toronto to Cdn$28,72 at 10:30 am ET and 6.72% higher in New York to $21.27 at 10:44 am ET, partly thanks to gold prices reaching fresh session highs as fewer US consumers bought pre-existing homes in February, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NRA).