Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $2.71 Million Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 46.3% in the first quarter, ending with 30,015 shares worth about $2.71 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: ratings currently average to “Hold” with a consensus price target of $101.90, though several firms recently raised targets while Citigroup downgraded the stock to underperform.
• Principal Financial Group beat Q1 EPS expectations at $2.07 per share and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.82, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 46.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,015 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,499 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial lowered Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $101.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $112.88 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $113.86. The stock's 50-day moving average is $105.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $96.40. The firm has a market cap of $24.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 over the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.