Man Group plc Takes $4.31 Million Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 39,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,308,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth approximately $2,157,181,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,473,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,219.5% in the fourth quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 51,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 47,316 shares during the last quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,277,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,639,302 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,603,000 after purchasing an additional 23,686 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $111.41 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $111.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.07. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.90 and a one year high of $116.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The firm has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 prior year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays boosted 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.