Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 33,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,615,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $111.41 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $111.84 and its 200 day moving average is $102.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $116.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.59%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Citigroup cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $102.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. 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 report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $106.67.

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.