Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Cuts Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC cut its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 9.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,948 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in 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 worth $312,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,166,000 after purchasing an additional 397,138 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $84.26 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $18.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.89 and a 200 day moving average of $78.76. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

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.