CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,009 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,828 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $8,129,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company's stock worth $306,393,000 after acquiring an additional 39,854 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company's stock worth $211,534,000 after purchasing an additional 118,722 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,689 shares of the company's stock worth $120,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,801 shares during the period. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company's stock worth $69,293,000 after acquiring an additional 88,179 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,404,000 after buying an additional 115,569 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $81.14. 924,808 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 974,881. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.56 billion, a PE ratio of -90.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.14. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.21 and a 52 week high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.73 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -324.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler upgraded Principal Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $90.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $84.25.

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.