United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 9,000 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $970,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.0% in the second quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock worth $605,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings raised Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG opened at $111.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.07. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $77.90 and a 1-year high of $116.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.84 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.59%.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.