438,113 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Bought by VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 438,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,220,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9,526.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,301,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,128,119,000 after buying an additional 37,903,473 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $741,960,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $164,848,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays boosted 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG opened at $116.68 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.29 and its 200-day moving average is $102.83. The stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $77.90 and a twelve month high of $121.18.

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, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 47.73%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

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.