Principal Financial Group on Tuesday announced that its board of directors has approved a new authorization for the repurchase of up to $500 million of the company’s outstanding common stock. As of Sept. 30, about $135 million remained under the company’s $300 million authorization made on May 7. “This authorization supports our continued balanced and disciplined approach to capital deployment to create long-term value for our shareholders — through common stock dividends, share repurchases, and strategic acquisitions,” said Dan Houston, chairman, president and CEO of Principal. As previously announced, Principal expects full-year capital deployments, including common stock dividends, share repurchases, and strategic acquisitions, will be at the high end of the $900 million to $1.3 billion range in 2018.