PEAK6 LLC Makes New $3.40 Million Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

PEAK6 LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 31,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,398,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $110.75 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $111.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $101.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market cap of $23.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $116.61.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

Principal Financial Group 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.