Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Decreases Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC decreased its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,705 shares of the company’s stock after selling 656 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $674,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 398.4% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 291,379 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,555,000 after acquiring an additional 232,915 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 85.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 466,133 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,041,000 after acquiring an additional 215,045 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 503,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,367,000 after acquiring an additional 146,473 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 818.1% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 152,648 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,112,000 after acquiring an additional 136,021 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 665,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,509,000 after acquiring an additional 125,198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $82.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $82.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $72.21 and a one year high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $18.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.92.

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.