Pacer Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Pacer Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 50.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,234 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,473,000. LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $10,400,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1,219.5% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 51,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 47,316 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,650,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,639,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,603,000 after purchasing an additional 23,686 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $113.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $24.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.51 and a twelve month high of $116.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50 day moving average of $110.26 and a 200 day moving average of $100.10.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial cut Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.83.

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.