Amundi Has $96.50 Million Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Amundi cut its Principal Financial Group stake by 22.3% in the second quarter, selling 256,452 shares and retaining 895,365 shares valued at approximately $96.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.08% of PFG.
• Principal Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.50, exceeding estimates of $2.33, while revenue of $3.99 billion fell short of the $4.11 billion forecast.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, or $3.36 annualized, representing a 2.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $106.67.

Amundi lowered its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 22.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 895,365 shares of the company's stock after selling 256,452 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.42% of Principal Financial Group worth $96,502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 9,526.5% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,301,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,128,119,000 after purchasing an additional 37,903,473 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $114.02 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $121.18.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Citigroup cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1879, the company provides investment management, retirement, insurance and financial wellness solutions to businesses, individuals and institutional investors.

Principal offers employer-sponsored retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit programs, as well as pension risk transfer solutions. Its insurance products and services include group benefits, individual life insurance and disability insurance.

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