Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,702 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,088 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,393,008 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after acquiring an additional 526,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 34.2% during the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 893,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,363,000 after acquiring an additional 227,836 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on PFG. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $85.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $81.67 and a 200 day moving average of $79.59. The firm has a market cap of $18.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year high of $90.31.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

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.