Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Purchased by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 821.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 84,116 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,986 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $7,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% during the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $104.83.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $112.96 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.00 and a 52-week high of $114.90.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.92%.

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.