Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Key Points

• Bank of New York Mellon trimmed its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.9% in Q1, though it still held about 1.19 million shares valued at roughly $107.3 million.
• Principal Financial Group beat earnings expectations in its latest quarterly report, posting $2.07 EPS versus the $2.01 estimate, even as revenue came in below forecast.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.82 per share, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $104.83.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp cut its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,190,553 shares of the company's stock after selling 23,330 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned approximately 0.55% of Principal Financial Group worth $107,281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of PFG opened at $112.06 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $107.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $97.88. The stock has a market cap of $24.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $114.90. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same period last year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.4 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 66,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on 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. UBS Group upped 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "sell" rating to an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $104.83.

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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