Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 32,105 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 19.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 198,492 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 32,105 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $17,886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,682,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at $341,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 10,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $970,000 after purchasing an additional 2,244 shares during the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 34.5% during the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 58,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,233,000 after purchasing an additional 14,900 shares during the period. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 16.2% during the first quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 12,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $113.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $114.95. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $109.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $99.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $101.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Three equities 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.75.

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.