Conning Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Conning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 5,081.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 404,953 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 397,138 shares during the period. Conning Inc. owned 0.18% of Principal Financial Group worth $34,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in PFG. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 15.7% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 3,492 shares of the company's stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 475 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 229,603 shares of the company's stock worth $19,372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $16,866,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.3% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 7,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $583,000 after purchasing an additional 479 shares during the period. Finally, Sageworth Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.38.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE:PFG opened at $80.88 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.39 and a 52 week high of $91.98. The stock's fifty day moving average is $77.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.10%.

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.

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