Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Takes $505,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $350,187,000 after buying an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $273,276,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of PFG opened at $111.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.89 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $111.71 and its 200 day moving average is $101.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $116.61.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PFG shares. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.