Bank of Nova Scotia Buys New Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 26,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,851,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $633,000 after buying an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company's stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 497 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 96.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company's stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company's stock worth $3,015,000 after acquiring an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on PFG. Bank of America raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $112.21 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.90 and a 52 week high of $116.61. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.85. The stock has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its 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 company had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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 prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 46.59%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group NASDAQ: PFG is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm's business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal's product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.

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