Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 75.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,642 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,294 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. City State Bank grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,331,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.09.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE PFG traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.27. The company had a trading volume of 218,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,942. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.59. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.21 and a 52-week high of $86.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.43, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.48 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.49%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.20%.

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.