Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Lowers Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 27.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,453 shares of the company's stock after selling 31,579 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $7,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFG. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 100,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,670,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the third quarter valued at about $240,000. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 61.6% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 128,755 shares of the company's stock worth $11,060,000 after buying an additional 49,070 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $857,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $619,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $80.00 target price (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $84.75.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.5 %

PFG stock traded down $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,145,794. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $85.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.43. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.21 and a 1-year high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently -324.44%.

Principal Financial Group 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.