Caxton Associates LLP Takes $620,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Caxton Associates LLP purchased 7,351 shares of Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG), valuing the stake at approximately $620,000.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.76 to $0.78 per share, representing a yield of 3.8%.
• Principal Financial Group reported $2.16 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19.

Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 7,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sciencast Management LP lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 55.2% during the first quarter. Sciencast Management LP now owns 40,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,394,000 after buying an additional 14,305 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 94.2% during the first quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP now owns 88,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,459,000 after buying an additional 42,887 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,471,000 after buying an additional 1,393,008 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.6% during the first quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teza Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 268.2% during the first quarter. Teza Capital Management LLC now owns 17,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after buying an additional 12,877 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on PFG shares. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $86.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG traded up $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $80.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 252,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,379,831. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $68.39 and a one year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $18.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $79.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.90.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.78%.

Principal Financial Group 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.