Bank of Nova Scotia Has $10.16 Million Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 363.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 127,860 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,245 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned 0.06% of Principal Financial Group worth $10,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $3,269,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,989,000 after purchasing an additional 814 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,486,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 72,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,747,000 after buying an additional 2,469 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $90.23 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $83.00 and its 200 day moving average is $80.54. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year high of $90.63. The firm has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.51, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 81,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,924,041.84. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

About Principal Financial Group

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.