71,931 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Purchased by Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 71,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,753,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $109.36 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $116.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.30. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.53, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.59%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.