Ethic Inc. Sells 9,341 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Ethic Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,341 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,939,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFG. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,293,000 after buying an additional 88,179 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 16.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 84,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,570,000 after buying an additional 11,868 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.0% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 231,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,867,000 after buying an additional 6,817 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,534,000 after buying an additional 118,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,468,000 after buying an additional 690 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.54.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $78.90 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.16. The company has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.39 and a 12-month high of $91.98.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). 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 $1.65 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 65.10%.

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.