Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Purchases 17,931 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,582 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,931 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.05% of Principal Financial Group worth $9,928,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 27,827 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 242.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 32,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 23,020 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.6% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 76,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,065 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 83.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 36,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.2 %

PFG opened at $87.09 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.45. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.21 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted 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). Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently -324.44%.

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.