VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Purchases New Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Virginia Retirement Systems acquired 438,113 shares of Principal Financial Group, valued at approximately $47.2 million, giving it a 0.20% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 75.08% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $106.67; targets range from $94 to $125.
• Principal Financial Group beat quarterly earnings expectations with EPS of $2.50 versus $2.33 estimated and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, representing a 2.9% yield.

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 438,113 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $47,220,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al owned 0.20% of Principal Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 9,526.5% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,301,347 shares of the company's stock worth $4,128,119,000 after acquiring an additional 37,903,473 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock worth $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PFG. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned 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 a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $116.68 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.83. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.86. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $121.18.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 47.73%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group NASDAQ: PFG is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm's business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal's product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding PFG? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.