State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System Has $17.50 Million Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 220,315 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $17,500,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after buying an additional 526,701 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 28.7% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 604,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,970,000 after buying an additional 134,697 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $9,012,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.3%

PFG stock opened at $84.82 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $18.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.39 and a twelve month high of $90.31. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $82.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $80.14.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 81,421 shares in the company, valued at $6,924,041.84. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

About Principal Financial Group

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.