Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. $KKR

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,049,804 shares of the asset manager’s stock after selling 310,412 shares during the quarter. KKR & Co. Inc. accounts for 1.2% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.14% of KKR & Co. Inc. worth $2,475,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,530,419,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in KKR & Co. Inc. by 454.1% in the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,381,342 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $183,760,000 after buying an additional 1,132,046 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 1.9% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,656,955 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $7,803,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099,263 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 4.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 19,847,217 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,640,275,000 after acquiring an additional 765,457 shares during the period. Finally, Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC boosted its stake in shares of KKR & Co. Inc. by 166.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC now owns 986,221 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $131,197,000 after acquiring an additional 615,591 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.26% of the company’s stock.

KKR & Co. Inc. Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of KKR opened at $114.31 on Friday. KKR & Co. Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.15 and a 52-week high of $170.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 0.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $128.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.78. The stock has a market cap of $101.89 billion, a PE ratio of 48.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.99.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 7th. The asset manager reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.14 billion. KKR & Co. Inc. had a net margin of 13.84% and a return on equity of 6.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that KKR & Co. Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR & Co. Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.185 dividend. This represents a $0.74 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. KKR & Co. Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered KKR & Co. Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $146.00 to $131.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Hsbc Global Res raised KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on KKR & Co. Inc. from $166.00 to $164.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. HSBC upgraded KKR & Co. Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $144.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of KKR & Co. Inc. from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $156.57.

KKR & Co. Inc. Company Profile

KKR & Co Inc is a global investment firm headquartered in New York City that specializes in private markets and alternative asset management. Founded in 1976 by Jerome Kohlberg Jr., Henry Kravis and George R. Roberts, the firm built its reputation in leveraged buyouts and has since expanded into a multi-strategy asset manager. KKR operates across private equity, credit, real assets (including real estate and infrastructure), growth equity and hedge fund strategies, offering a range of investment products and strategies for institutional and private investors.

KKR manages capital through traditional closed-end funds as well as customized vehicles such as separate accounts, co-investments, and listed investment vehicles.