AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the 1st quarter, acquiring an additional 526,701 shares, bringing its total holdings to 645,431 shares valued at approximately $53.6 million.
• Principal Financial Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $0.78, resulting in a dividend yield of 3.9%, with the dividend payment scheduled for September 26th.
• Analysts' price targets for Principal Financial Group have shown mixed results, with average target rising to $86.90, while ratings range from "Buy" to "Sell" among various firms.

AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 443.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 645,431 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 526,701 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.29% of Principal Financial Group worth $53,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 684 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.0% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,803 shares of the company's stock worth $152,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE PFG traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,025,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,385,505. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $17.84 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.36 and a 200-day moving average of $79.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on PFG shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Barclays boosted 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.90.

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.