Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,513 shares of the company’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RIA Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 35,473.1% during the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,080,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $84,964,000 after buying an additional 1,076,964 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,836,000 after buying an additional 575,646 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 60.5% during the third quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,210,985 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,305,000 after buying an additional 456,455 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $30,290,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the third quarter worth $22,726,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.30.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $82.98 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.17 and a 12-month high of $86.79. The stock has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $81.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.67%.

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.