V Square Quantitative Management LLC Has $538,000 Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 16.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,236 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 879 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.3% during the third quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.2% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 19,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.2% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 8,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $592,000 after purchasing an additional 691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 13.3% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.30.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock traded down $0.21 on Wednesday, reaching $83.28. The stock had a trading volume of 645,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,086,797. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $82.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.24. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.67%.

Principal Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 12th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.