Bank of Montreal Can Buys 146,473 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 41.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 503,735 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 146,473 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.22% of Principal Financial Group worth $43,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $965,000 after acquiring an additional 533 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,827 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 57.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,014,000 after purchasing an additional 65,070 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after purchasing an additional 9,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.1% in the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 298,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,422,000 after purchasing an additional 63,747 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of PFG opened at $87.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $19.96 billion, a PE ratio of -96.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.39 and a 12 month high of $91.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $86.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $82.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.04 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently -324.44%.

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.