Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Insider Sells $330,925.66 in Stock

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 3,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.06, for a total transaction of $330,925.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 73,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,624,069.62. The trade was a 4.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Wee Yee Cheong also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 21st, Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44.
• On Thursday, April 30th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 4,737 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.01, for a total transaction of $478,484.37.
• On Friday, May 1st, Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58.
• On Wednesday, April 29th, Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,080 shares of Principal Financial Group stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $109,080.00.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.32. The company had a trading volume of 112,495 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,548,079. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $104.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $94.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.23.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.10.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.