Virtus ETF Advisers LLC Buys New Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Virtus ETF Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 13,623 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,055,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFG. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,466,587 shares of the company's stock worth $422,074,000 after acquiring an additional 52,410 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $217,021,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company's stock valued at $211,534,000 after buying an additional 118,722 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,507 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,129,000 after buying an additional 44,818 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,359,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,511,000 after buying an additional 264,383 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.31.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG traded down $0.44 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,806,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,301,589. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year high of $91.98. The firm has a market cap of $16.68 billion, a PE ratio of 11.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $80.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.10%.

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.