Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Takes $565,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co has acquired 6,699 shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. valued at approximately $565,000 in the 1st quarter, signaling increased interest from institutional investors.
• In addition to Meiji Yasuda, other major investors have significantly increased their positions, with Victory Capital Management growing its holdings by 802.2% during the same period.
• Principal Financial Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78, up from $0.76, indicating a solid annualized dividend yield of 3.9%.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,699 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $565,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock worth $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company's stock worth $220,471,000 after buying an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company's stock worth $53,597,000 after buying an additional 526,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 11,781.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 478,715 shares of the company's stock worth $40,389,000 after buying an additional 474,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $82.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 985,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,383,583. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.93. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $18.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. 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 report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.90.

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.