Trust Asset Management LLC Purchases Shares of 2,678 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Trust Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 15.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,836,000 after acquiring an additional 575,646 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.4% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,920,915 shares of the company’s stock valued at $282,580,000 after buying an additional 16,052 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,231,757 shares of the company’s stock valued at $160,843,000 after buying an additional 249,127 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 60.5% in the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,210,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,305,000 after buying an additional 456,455 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 35,473.1% in the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,080,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,964,000 after buying an additional 1,076,964 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.64.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE PFG traded down $1.10 on Thursday, reaching $81.06. 942,813 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,127,300. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.17 and a fifty-two week high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 4.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 112.65%.

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.