Empirical Finance LLC Has $732,000 Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Empirical Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,486 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $732,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,836,000 after purchasing an additional 575,646 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $253,990,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,783,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,984,000 after acquiring an additional 144,262 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,157,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,747,000 after acquiring an additional 200,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,360,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,030,000 after acquiring an additional 149,353 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock traded up $1.05 on Friday, hitting $84.93. 869,390 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,096,928. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $80.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a PE ratio of 16.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.21. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $66.21 and a one year high of $86.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.48 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.34%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.20%.

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.