Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Stock: Aberdeen Group plc Increases Stake

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group increased its Principal Financial Group stake by 1,290.5% in the third quarter, ending with about 2.31 million shares worth $258.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.08% of the stock.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is Hold, with a $107.75 average price target; ratings include three Buys, six Holds, and three Sells.
• Principal reported quarterly EPS of $2.22, below the $2.46 consensus, while revenue of $4.62 billion exceeded estimates. It also raised its quarterly dividend from $0.84 to $0.85 per share.

Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 1,290.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,308,326 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,142,316 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc owned 1.09% of Principal Financial Group worth $258,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,157,181,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,264,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,106,346,000 after purchasing an additional 85,014 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,819,452 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,721,000 after purchasing an additional 420,319 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,216,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,854,000 after purchasing an additional 244,550 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Evercore set a $111.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b+)" rating in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Three investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.75.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $113.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $80.00 and a 12-month high of $121.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $112.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.63.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.31 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 16.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 37.33%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc. is a financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1879 as Bankers Life Association, it later adopted the Principal name and expanded beyond its original insurance business. The company provides retirement and pension solutions, investment management, life and disability insurance, and employee benefits to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients. Its offerings include workplace retirement plans, group benefits, and investment products and services.

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