Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC Takes $532,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,028 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position 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 valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its position 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 valued at $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position 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 valued at $144,603,000 after purchasing an additional 23,686 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position 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 valued at $90,856,000 after purchasing an additional 506,841 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $104.57 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.85. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.00 and a 52-week high of $105.00.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 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, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 45.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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 report on Friday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.10.

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.