Jupiter Topco LLC Buys Shares of 23,952 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 23,952 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,581,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PFG. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $2,157,181,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at $273,276,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $164,848,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244,668 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $132,735,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PFG. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings raised Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:PFG opened at $111.31 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.86. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $77.90 and a 12-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.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly 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. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 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 paid a $0.84 dividend. 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 is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.73%.

Principal Financial Group 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.