Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Acquired by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank grew its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 45,625 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $3,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 65.0% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 166,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,027,000 after purchasing an additional 65,385 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.6% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 78,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 964.1% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after purchasing an additional 2,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth about $19,698,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.25.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $81.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $72.21 and a one year high of $91.97. The firm has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.22.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.03 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is -324.44%.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.