Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Acquired by CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp

Key Points

• CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.0% during the second quarter, owning approximately 0.05% of the company, valued at $8,943,000.
• Several institutional investors significantly boosted their positions in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter, with Victory Capital Management Inc. increasing its holdings by 802.2%.
• Principal Financial Group has announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.78 per share from $0.76, representing a 3.8% annual yield.

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,590 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,272 shares during the period. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp owned approximately 0.05% of Principal Financial Group worth $8,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the 1st 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 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 worth $220,471,000 after buying an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the 1st 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% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 478,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,389,000 after purchasing an additional 474,686 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target 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. Barclays increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $83.04 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.81 and a 200-day moving average of $78.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost 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%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 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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