Global Retirement Partners LLC Purchases New Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Global Retirement Partners LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $635,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $124,372,000. Centric Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $3,053,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $449,000. S&CO Inc. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Finally, One Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $408,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Citigroup lowered Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ PFG opened at $113.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.61 and its 200-day moving average is $101.18. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.34 and a one year high of $116.61.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

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.