MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. Increases Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 8.1%, owning a total of 62,048 shares valued at over $5 million.
• Principal Financial Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, up from $0.76, marking a 3.8% dividend yield.
• The company's stock has seen significant institutional investment, with notable increases from firms like Victory Capital Management, which boosted its holdings by 802.2%.

MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,048 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,625 shares during the quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd.'s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $5,235,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted 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 worth $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,246 shares of the company's stock worth $145,318,000 after buying an additional 209,885 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,080,097 shares of the company's stock worth $91,128,000 after buying an additional 17,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 34.2% in the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 893,246 shares of the company's stock worth $75,363,000 after buying an additional 227,836 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE:PFG traded up $1.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $81.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 210,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,522. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.44 and a 200-day moving average of $78.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group's 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.