Sterling Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 43.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,334 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,568 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,418 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,290,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.0% in the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $910,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 56.1% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 4,092 shares of the company’s stock valued at $369,000 after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PFG. Citigroup lowered Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of PFG opened at $108.93 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $112.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.78.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.92%.

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.