Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $4.01 Million Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 51.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,279 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $4,014,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the 3rd 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 3rd quarter worth about $4,667,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 277,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,804,000 after purchasing an additional 37,836 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the 3rd 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. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,218.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 250,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,715,000 after purchasing an additional 231,601 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.64.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE PFG opened at $81.06 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a PEG 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 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $86.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.80 and a 200-day moving average of $77.39.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the firm posted $1.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.