Citigroup Inc. Acquires 56,418 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 37.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,726 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,418 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Principal Financial Group worth $17,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,482,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,726,000 after acquiring an additional 627,865 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11,781.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 478,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,389,000 after acquiring an additional 474,686 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,448,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.70.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.4%

NYSE PFG opened at $78.34 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.45 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year high of $91.97. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $78.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Principal Financial Group 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.

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