Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Invests $32.47 Million in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 368,119 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,473,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,639,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,603,000 after buying an additional 23,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 84.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,856,000 after buying an additional 506,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.3%

PFG opened at $103.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $96.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.08. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $105.00.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.92%.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $98.10.

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.