Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 35.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,137 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,446 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,624,000 after acquiring an additional 18,368 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 108.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company's stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,827 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 59.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,095,000 after buying an additional 9,048 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 57.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,635 shares of the company's stock worth $14,014,000 after purchasing an additional 65,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 54.2% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 9,432 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of PFG traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $86.56. The stock had a trading volume of 3,580,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,374. The firm has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a PE ratio of -96.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50 day moving average is $85.42 and its 200 day moving average is $82.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.37 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is -320.00%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.