Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 10,463 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Transamerica Financial Advisors acquired 10,463 shares of Principal Financial Group worth approximately $1.13 million. Institutional investors collectively own 75.08% of PFG, with major new positions from BlackRock and Bank of America.
• Analysts maintain a generally cautious outlook, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $106.67. PFG recently traded at $112.21 after beating quarterly EPS estimates, despite revenue falling short of expectations.
• Principal Financial Group increased its quarterly dividend from $0.82 to $0.84 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $3.36 and a 3.0% yield.

Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 10,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,128,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth $741,960,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $273,276,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $164,848,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised 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. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $112.21 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.75 and a 200-day moving average of $101.85. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $116.61. The stock has a market cap of $24.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.94, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analysts' expectations 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 previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.59%.

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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