Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Principal Financial Group, buying 10,100 shares valued at about $910,000.
• Insider selling continued at PFG, with executive sales by Wee Yee Cheong and George Djurasovic; insiders sold 28,317 shares worth about $2.88 million over the last 90 days.
• Principal Financial Group recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share and beat quarterly earnings estimates, reporting $2.07 EPS versus the expected $2.01.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $910,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $998,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $32,473,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 47.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,630,000 after purchasing an additional 16,171 shares during the period. LBP AM SA bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $10,400,000. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,650,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,816,056.88. The trade was a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on PFG shares. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a "hold" rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $110.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. 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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.92%.

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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