Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Invests $32.47 Million in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. opened a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter, buying 368,119 shares worth about $32.47 million.
• Analyst sentiment on PFG remains mixed, with a consensus Hold rating and an average price target of $98.10, though some firms recently raised targets while others trimmed theirs.
• Principal Financial Group beat earnings estimates with $2.07 EPS for the quarter and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 3.2%.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 368,119 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $32,473,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. owned about 0.17% of Principal Financial Group at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PFG. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the 3rd 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. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd 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. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,856,000 after buying an additional 506,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 199.1% in the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 637,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,843,000 after buying an additional 424,231 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PFG shares. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $103.62 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.00 and a one year high of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $96.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.08. The company has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.89.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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