O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Grows Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 231,285 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 31,728 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $20,402,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 1,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,067,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,192,000 after buying an additional 90,190 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 8,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $738,000 after buying an additional 1,093 shares during the period. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $86,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $105.03 on Tuesday. 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 twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $105.99. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $92.98. The firm has a market cap of $22.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.88.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were 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. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 over the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Principal Financial Group

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.