OLD National Bancorp IN Reduces Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

OLD National Bancorp IN reduced its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 73.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,872 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,063 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,667,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 277,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,804,000 after purchasing an additional 37,836 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,836,000 after purchasing an additional 575,646 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1,218.9% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 250,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,715,000 after buying an additional 231,601 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on PFG. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.64.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $79.12 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.17 and a twelve month high of $86.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $81.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.45.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. 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.