California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Principal Financial Group stake by 9,526.5% to 38.3 million shares, representing 17.89% ownership valued at approximately $4.13 billion.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating on PFG, with an average price target of $106.67; individual targets range from $94 to $125.
• Principal Financial Group exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting $2.50 versus the $2.33 consensus, and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, equal to a 2.9% annual yield.

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 9,526.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,301,347 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 37,903,473 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 17.89% of Principal Financial Group worth $4,128,119,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.2% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 2,771 shares of the company's stock worth $311,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.7% during the second quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,558 shares of the company's stock valued at $922,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.4% during the second quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Saudi Central Bank boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 87.2% during the second quarter. Saudi Central Bank now owns 15,178 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,636,000 after buying an additional 7,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Compass Financial Management LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $231,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.9%

PFG stock opened at $114.02 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The business's 50-day moving average is $112.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.32. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 47.73%.

About Principal Financial Group

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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