Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Increases Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.8% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 408,534 shares valued at about $36.8 million.
• Wall Street sentiment on PFG remains cautious overall: analysts currently have an average Hold rating with a consensus price target of $100.90, even as some firms adjusted targets and ratings.
• Principal Financial Group reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $2.07 and raised its dividend to $0.82 per share, lifting the annualized payout to $3.28 and the yield to about 3.0%.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 408,534 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,905 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.19% of Principal Financial Group worth $36,813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $95.00 target price (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citigroup lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $100.90.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $107.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.41, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $103.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.33. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $112.45.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

About Principal Financial Group

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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