Saudi Central Bank Grows Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Saudi Central Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 87.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,178 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,069 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.6% in the first quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 14.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Citigroup downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $115.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.86. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.16. 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 47.73%.

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.