Avanza Fonder AB Acquires New Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 21,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,663,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 105,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,129,000 after acquiring an additional 4,828 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $621,000. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth approximately $142,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on PFG. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $80.00 price objective (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.25.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.6 %

PFG stock opened at $81.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -90.73, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $72.21 and a 1-year high of $91.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $82.16.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). The company had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently -324.44%.

Principal Financial Group 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.