Sivia Capital Partners LLC Invests $617,000 in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 6,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $617,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $273,276,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,800,000 after acquiring an additional 776,997 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after acquiring an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,856,000 after acquiring an additional 506,841 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $103.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average is $97.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.65. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.00 and a 1 year high of $105.00.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PFG. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Raymond James Financial lowered Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.10.

About Principal Financial Group

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.