Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Reduces Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 116,557 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,754 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $9,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,534,000 after acquiring an additional 118,722 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,801 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,293,000 after purchasing an additional 88,179 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 665,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,509,000 after purchasing an additional 125,198 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 503,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,367,000 after purchasing an additional 146,473 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.3 %

PFG stock opened at $85.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.21 and a 1-year high of $91.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.70. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.78, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.22.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

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.