QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 2,477 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

QRG Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 20.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,588 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,477 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of PFG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 49.3% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $917,000 after buying an additional 3,557 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $209,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 40.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,645 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $943,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,721.1% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 148,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,502,000 after purchasing an additional 140,046 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $88.60.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of PFG opened at $82.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.39 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $80.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $78.73.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

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.