Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. (NYSE:WPM - Free Report) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,244 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,486 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Wheaton Precious Metals were worth $1,959,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WPM. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,640 shares of the company's stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals in the fourth quarter worth $815,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC grew its position in Wheaton Precious Metals by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC now owns 9,432 shares of the company's stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 4,176 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 80,507 shares of the company's stock worth $4,523,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beddow Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Wheaton Precious Metals by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Beddow Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,763,000 after acquiring an additional 7,302 shares during the last quarter. 70.34% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wheaton Precious Metals Trading Down 0.8%

WPM stock traded down $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $88.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,140,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,459. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $87.93 and a 200 day moving average of $76.90. Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $53.05 and a fifty-two week high of $95.23.

Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $470.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $446.33 million. Wheaton Precious Metals had a return on equity of 10.32% and a net margin of 42.45%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 58.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. will post 1.46 EPS for the current year.

Wheaton Precious Metals Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of Wheaton Precious Metals from $87.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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 research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Wheaton Precious Metals from $79.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Wheaton Precious Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $129.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Wheaton Precious Metals from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $93.00.

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.