Blair William & Co. IL Sells 282 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 8.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,207 shares of the company’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 114.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,468,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,917,000 after buying an additional 20,221 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,080,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,128,000 after buying an additional 17,969 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 34.2% during the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 893,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,363,000 after buying an additional 227,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE PFG opened at $78.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $91.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.47.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $88.60.

Principal Financial Group 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.