Foster & Motley Inc. Buys Shares of 29,615 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Foster & Motley Inc. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 29,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,192,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after acquiring an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 96.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.1% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,015,000 after purchasing an additional 3,175 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on PFG. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.2%

PFG stock opened at $113.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $24.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.18. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $77.34 and a 12 month high of $116.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

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.