Integrity Alliance LLC. Boosts Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Integrity Alliance LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 176.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,808 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,904 shares during the period. Integrity Alliance LLC.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 343.6% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the third quarter worth $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% during the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $103.32 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average of $96.01 and a 200 day moving average of $92.00. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.00 and a 1 year high of $105.00.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.