Strs Ohio Acquires 6,909 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Strs Ohio lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 28.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,912 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,909 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased 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 worth $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth about $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 443.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after purchasing an additional 526,701 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 893,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,363,000 after purchasing an additional 227,836 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $83.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $90.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.29 and a 200-day moving average of $79.13. 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 (NYSE:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.90.

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.