Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 35.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,137 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,446 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.4% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,844,000 after purchasing an additional 152,774 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,393,000 after buying an additional 39,854 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,903,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,301,000 after purchasing an additional 53,516 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 27.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,404,000 after buying an additional 115,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 478,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $86.36 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.12. The company has a market cap of $19.75 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.20. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $71.37 and a one year high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -320.00%.

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.