Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Bought by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 497.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,667 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,049 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $758,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9,002.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 163,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,853,000 after purchasing an additional 161,588 shares during the period. Choreo LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 37.0% during the 4th quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the company’s stock worth $572,000 after buying an additional 1,961 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $218,000. Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 12,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after buying an additional 346 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,661,000 after acquiring an additional 27,887 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on PFG. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:PFG opened at $81.42 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.21 and a 12-month high of $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.54%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.96%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

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.