Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM) by 34.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,244 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,486 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,959,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 40,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,293,000 after acquiring an additional 8,331 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 37.4% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 8,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,392 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the 1st quarter valued at $531,000. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 83.8% in the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 6,324 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $129.00 price objective on the stock. National Bankshares reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $93.00.

Wheaton Precious Metals Stock Performance

WPM opened at $88.30 on Friday. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $53.05 and a fifty-two week high of $95.23. The company has a fifty day moving average of $87.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.93, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.46.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $470.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $446.33 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a net margin of 42.45% and a return on equity of 10.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 58.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 28th were paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 28th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Wheaton Precious Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.53%.

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.