Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Buys Shares of 105,000 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 105,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,237,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Family Firm Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 319.3% in the first quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on PFG. Raymond James raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:PFG opened at $87.32 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.21 and a 52 week high of $88.26. The firm has a market cap of $20.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.96%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.