BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Increases Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 75.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,642 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,294 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,836,000 after buying an additional 575,646 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $253,990,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,783,578 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,984,000 after purchasing an additional 144,262 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,157,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,747,000 after purchasing an additional 200,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,360,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,030,000 after purchasing an additional 149,353 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.09.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of PFG traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.27. The stock had a trading volume of 218,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,942. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.21 and a 1 year high of $86.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $80.70 and its 200 day moving average is $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $19.05 billion, a PE ratio of 15.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.20%.

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.