35,251 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Purchased by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 35,251 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,799,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake 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 buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock worth $350,187,000 after buying an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $273,276,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $111.59 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-month high of $116.61. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $111.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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