California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 23,520 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 452,839 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,520 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.19% of Principal Financial Group worth $35,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 18.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 191 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 88.7% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 887 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 143.0% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 384 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 45.4% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,801,000 after buying an additional 12,140 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.3% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 100,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,257,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock opened at $79.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $81.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.45. The company has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.25. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $65.17 and a 1-year high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.70%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 52.67%.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, February 12th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on PFG shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.64.

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.