Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Sold by Quantbot Technologies LP

Key Points

• Quantbot Technologies LP significantly reduced its holdings in Principal Financial Group, selling 135,880 shares and decreasing its stake by 91.6% to only 12,419 shares.
• Principal Financial Group reported a quarterly EPS of $2.16, surpassing the consensus estimate of $1.97, and announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.78 per share.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes in Principal Financial Group, with Victory Capital Management boosting its position by an astounding 802.2% during the first quarter.

Quantbot Technologies LP reduced its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 91.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,419 shares of the company's stock after selling 135,880 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $281,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $943,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 526,649 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,433,000 after purchasing an additional 13,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock worth $312,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock traded up $0.29 on Friday, hitting $80.51. 974,695 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,392,479. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $91.97. The company's fifty day moving average is $79.13 and its 200 day moving average is $79.39.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 62.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Barclays upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $86.90.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.