LVW Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• LVW Advisors LLC acquired 3,741 shares of Principal Financial Group, valued at approximately $297,000, marking a new investment position during the second quarter.
• Analysts have varied ratings on Principal Financial Group, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.90.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.78 per share, indicating a strong commitment to returning value to shareholders.

LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,468,728 shares of the company's stock worth $123,917,000 after buying an additional 20,221 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,080,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $91,128,000 after purchasing an additional 17,969 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 34.2% in the 1st quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 893,246 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,363,000 after purchasing an additional 227,836 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of PFG stock opened at $82.62 on Monday. 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 50 day moving average price of $79.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $78.70. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.39 and a 12-month high of $91.97. The company has a market capitalization of $18.41 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the business posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued 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 of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

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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