California Public Employees Retirement System Raises Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 10.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 404,707 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,668 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Principal Financial Group worth $32,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.3% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 10,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $854,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 57.6% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,791,246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,213,000 after acquiring an additional 654,408 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 65.7% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 411,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,660,000 after acquiring an additional 163,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 208.6% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 690,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,849,000 after purchasing an additional 466,786 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,924,041.84. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $90.23 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.39 and a twelve month high of $90.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $83.00 and its 200 day moving average is $80.54. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.05 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be given 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 3.5%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.00%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.