Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Stock Position Raised by Denali Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Denali Advisors LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 117.8% during the second quarter, bringing its total holdings to 14,453 shares valued at approximately $1.15 million.
• The company recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $2.16, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.97, and declared a dividend increase to $0.78 per share.
• Wall Street analysts have set varying price targets for PFG, with recommendations including two "Buy" ratings, five "Hold" ratings, and three "Sell" ratings, along with an average target price of $88.60.

Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 117.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,453 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,816 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other 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 valued at $312,805,000 after acquiring 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 valued at $220,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $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 valued at $53,597,000 after acquiring an additional 526,701 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $79.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $80.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.51. 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 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $90.31. The company has a market capitalization of $17.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 62.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $88.60.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.

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