Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 13,300 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 13,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,046,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Ellevest Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ellevest Inc. now owns 4,644 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $663,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 4,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on 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. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.64.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $82.16 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.17 and a fifty-two week high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 4.56%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.69 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.65%.

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.