Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,167 shares of the company’s stock after selling 21,733 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $14,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. American National Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Curio Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 37,800.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 379 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Private Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 163.4% in the 2nd quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.70.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of PFG opened at $82.20 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year high of $90.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period last year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.78%.

Principal Financial Group 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.