Fulton Bank N.A. Makes New Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Fulton Bank N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. USS Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the first quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd now owns 31,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,883,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 264.3% during the 1st quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 16,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 11,647 shares in the last quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ now owns 52,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,719,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last quarter. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. 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 research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $110.87 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $112.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $104.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.03.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.92%.

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.