New York State Teachers Retirement System Raises Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 12.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 179,303 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,447 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $15,816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 96.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.33.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $101.09 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $74.83 and a 1-year high of $101.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $92.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.33.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.78%.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $109,080.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 91,108 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,201,908. The trade was a 1.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,652 shares of company stock worth $368,414. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

About Principal Financial Group

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.