Acadian Asset Management LLC Increases Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 21.7%, owning 100,634 shares valued at approximately $8.49 million after acquiring an additional 17,958 shares.
• Principal Financial Group recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78, a slight increase from its previous dividend, with a current annualized yield of 3.8%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Principal Financial Group, with two "Buy" ratings, five "Hold" ratings, and three "Sell" ratings, while the consensus target price stands at $86.90.

Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,634 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 17,958 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $8,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 4,726 shares of the company's stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 686 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 559.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 73,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,185,000 after purchasing an additional 62,193 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Integrity Alliance LLC. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $470,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE PFG traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $81.73. 225,692 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,958. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $68.39 and a 12-month high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.91. The firm has a market cap of $18.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.78%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.