Centric Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 30,694 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Centric Wealth Management acquired 30,694 shares of Principal Financial Group, valued at approximately $3.05 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.08% of the company.
• Principal Financial Group exceeded quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $2.50 in EPS versus the $2.33 consensus estimate, although revenue of $3.99 billion fell short of forecasts.
• The company increased its quarterly dividend from $0.82 to $0.84 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.36 and a 2.9% yield. Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $105.83.

Centric Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 30,694 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,053,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $32,473,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1,219.5% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 51,196 shares of the company's stock worth $4,516,000 after buying an additional 47,316 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,650,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,277,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,639,302 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,603,000 after acquiring an additional 23,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $113.98 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $111.33 and a 200-day moving average of $100.84. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.15 and a one year high of $116.61.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $105.83.

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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