Sound Income Strategies LLC Buys 18,538 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 8.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 228,677 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,538 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group makes up 1.1% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Sound Income Strategies LLC owned about 0.10% of Principal Financial Group worth $17,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.7% during the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,504 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 15,868 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 25,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,000 after buying an additional 962 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 428.4% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 64,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,038,000 after buying an additional 52,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 7.1% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 95,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,478,000 after buying an additional 6,360 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $81.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.05 and a 200 day moving average of $82.24. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $72.21 and a 52 week high of $91.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted 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). Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Piper Sandler raised Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

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.