Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Bought by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 13.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,692 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 934 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 403.6% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 354,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,800,000 after acquiring an additional 284,067 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $19,698,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 282.0% during the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 308,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,633,000 after buying an additional 227,608 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 165.2% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,162,000 after buying an additional 210,476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 586.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 234,815 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,267,000 after buying an additional 200,588 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Raymond James raised Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.42.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.9 %

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $90.46 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.21 and a twelve month high of $91.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $82.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 55.92%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.