Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 13,131 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 145.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,131 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,131 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% in the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $104.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.89. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.00 and a 52 week high of $105.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.85.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on PFG. Bank of America cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.10.

About Principal Financial Group

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.