Oak Thistle LLC Makes New $621,000 Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 8,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of PFG. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.2% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 9,933 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.1% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 298,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,422,000 after purchasing an additional 63,747 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 358.7% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after buying an additional 12,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on PFG shares. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.25.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $18.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -88.98, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.22. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $72.21 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.16.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. 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 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently -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.