Foster & Motley Inc. Increases Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Foster & Motley Inc. lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,923 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,982 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $3,393,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $227,098,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during 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. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 57.6% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,791,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,213,000 after buying an additional 654,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1,048.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 697,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,849,000 after buying an additional 637,001 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total transaction of $160,470.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,924,041.84. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 23rd. Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $91.60.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $91.73 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $86.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.39. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $92.51. The company has a market cap of $20.43 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.