Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Buys 4,040 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.6%, now owning 76,040 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Principal Financial Group recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.78 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 4.0%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings on Principal Financial Group, reflecting a consensus "Hold" rating with a target price of $86.70.

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 76,040 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,040 shares during the period. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $6,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $281,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $943,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 526,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,433,000 after purchasing an additional 13,483 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, reaching $77.64. 962,383 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,417,872. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.39 and a 12-month high of $91.97. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.52. The company has a market cap of $17.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 62.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.70.

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.