Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Acquires 3,467 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,981 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,467 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,572,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the third quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the third quarter worth about $4,667,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 277,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,804,000 after buying an additional 37,836 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $318,836,000 after buying an additional 575,646 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,218.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 250,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,715,000 after buying an additional 231,601 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.64.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $82.16 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $86.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $19.32 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 112.65%.

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

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.