Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Position Boosted by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Key Points

• Institutional interest increased: Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its Principal Financial Group stake by 72.8% to 29,084 shares, while other funds also added holdings. Institutional investors own 75.08% of PFG.
• Analyst sentiment remains neutral: Analysts’ consensus rating is “Hold,” with a target price of $105.83, despite several recent price-target increases and mixed upgrades or downgrades.
• Strong earnings and higher dividend: Principal Financial Group reported quarterly EPS of $2.50, beating estimates of $2.33, and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.84, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 72.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,084 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,250 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $3,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company's stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company's stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 96.2% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company's stock worth $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company's stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $105.83.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $113.98 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.15 and a fifty-two week high of $116.61. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $111.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS 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. 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%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

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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