Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Acquires New Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 401,650 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $43,290,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.19% of Principal Financial Group at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,157,181,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $273,276,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $164,848,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,138,000 after buying an additional 1,244,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $132,735,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of PFG opened at $112.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.93, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $116.61. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $111.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.96.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Citigroup lowered Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $106.67.

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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