Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $312.81 Million Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 802.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 1.65% of Principal Financial Group worth $312,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $281,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at $943,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 526,649 shares of the company's stock worth $44,433,000 after purchasing an additional 13,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vest Financial LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $787,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.1%

PFG traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $81.06. The company's stock had a trading volume of 867,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,316,593. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.82. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $91.98.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company posted $1.65 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a $0.76 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 65.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price target on 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 boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $84.82.

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.