BNP Paribas Financial Markets Purchases 134,697 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 28.7%, owning a total of 604,121 shares valued at approximately $50.97 million.
• Principal Financial Group recently reported an EPS of $2.16, exceeding expectations and reflecting a strong year-over-year increase from $1.63.
• The company has announced a dividend increase to $0.78 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%.

BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 28.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 604,121 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 134,697 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets owned approximately 0.27% of Principal Financial Group worth $50,970,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,482,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,726,000 after purchasing an additional 627,865 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $47,986,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 11,781.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 478,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,389,000 after purchasing an additional 474,686 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company's stock worth $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on PFG shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:PFG traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $81.10. The company had a trading volume of 458,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,388,472. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $18.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $79.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $79.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.39 and a twelve month high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 62.78%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.