Principal Financial Group, in its recent quarterly earnings report, announced that it returned $1.7 billion to shareholders in 2024, including $1 billion in share repurchases and $700 million of common stock dividends.

The move reinforces Principal’s “commitment to return excess capital to shareholders while maintaining our strong capital position,” Deanna Strable, the financial services company’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

During an earnings call, Strable said that Principal not only delivered “a strong 2024” but also met its predictions of growing earnings per share between 9% and 12%, targeting a 75% to 85% free capital flow conversion, and expanding return on equity between 14% and 16%. “I’m extremely pleased that we’ve delivered on this guidance,” she said.

For 2024, Principal reported adjusted full-year non-generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) operating earnings of $1.8 billion, or $7.65 per diluted share, an 11% increase over 2023. For the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2024, Principal reported non-GAAP operating earnings of $485 million, or $2.10 per diluted share, a 16% increase over the same quarter a year ago.

Strable attributed the increase to “strong top line growth across the enterprise, as well as the benefits from equity market tailwinds, which more than offset impacts from foreign currency.”
The Principal Financial Group’s board approved a first-quarter dividend of 75 cents per share, a 9-cent increase over 2024’s first-quarter dividend. The dividend is payable on March 28 to stockholders of record as of March 12.

Strable said she is optimistic about 2025.

“As I look at the opportunities in front of us, I am confident in our ability to drive value through deeper market penetration in SMB, expanding our offering within the retirement ecosystem and sharpening our focus in global asset management,” she said.

For more information about Principal Financial Group’s earnings report, click here. To read a transcript of the earnings call that occurred on Feb. 7, click here.