Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 17,738 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 167,481 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,738 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Principal Financial Group worth $14,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,726 shares of the company's stock worth $3,385,000 after buying an additional 3,426 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $15,821,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 6,694 shares of the company's stock worth $518,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 6,048 shares of the company's stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $630,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG stock traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $78.69. The stock had a trading volume of 374,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,403,559. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.48. 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 $91.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

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.