Deutsche Bank AG Makes New $132.74 Million Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,231,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,735,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,674,000 after buying an additional 55,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $111.64 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.34 and a 52 week 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $111.66 and a 200-day moving average of $101.30.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $106.67.

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.