Nomura Holdings Inc. Purchases Shares of 6,931 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 6,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $336,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 9,931 shares of the company's stock worth $769,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 57,423 shares of the company's stock worth $4,445,000 after buying an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. LMR Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $696,000. Finally, Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 113,995 shares of the company's stock worth $8,824,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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.com, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.85.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE PFG traded down $0.34 on Friday, reaching $77.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 846,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,323,696. The firm has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $77.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.94. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.39 and a 52 week high of $91.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.95%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio 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.