Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Bought by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 85.6% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 466,133 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,041,000 after acquiring an additional 215,045 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 41.0% during the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 503,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,367,000 after acquiring an additional 146,473 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 818.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 152,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,112,000 after purchasing an additional 136,021 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 6,593.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 132,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,356,000 after purchasing an additional 130,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,534,000 after purchasing an additional 118,722 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.25.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $81.66 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.73, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $81.35 and its 200-day moving average is $82.20. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.21 and a 1 year high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.