Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1,230.2% in the first quarter, ending with 105,377 shares valued at about $9.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mixed: the stock has a consensus Hold rating and average price target of $100.90, even as several analysts raised or adjusted targets.
• Principal Financial Group reported Q1 earnings of $2.07 per share, beating estimates, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, implying a 3.0% yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 1,230.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 105,377 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 97,455 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $9,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 112.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in 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 period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 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 valued at $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $107.75 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.00 and a 52-week high of $112.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.39.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Company 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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