Royal Bank of Canada Increases Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 877,645 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 108,963 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $79,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $113.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.15, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $114.95.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.75.

About Principal Financial Group

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.