Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Acquired by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 896,710 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 78,751 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $79,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the period. UBS Group AG grew its stake 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 worth $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,615,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $133,951,000 after buying an additional 33,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,856,000 after buying an additional 506,841 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $100.77 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.00 and a 1 year high of $103.00. The firm has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $93.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 17,572 shares of company stock worth $1,776,769 in the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

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.