Bank of Nova Scotia Acquires New Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 26,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,851,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $231,000. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,026,000. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,027,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,423,000. Finally, Westpac Banking Corp bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $112.21 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $116.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.75 and a 200-day moving average of $101.85. The company has a market capitalization of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.59%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.