Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New $721,000 Investment in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the period. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,615,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,951,000 after buying an additional 33,490 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,103,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,856,000 after buying an additional 506,841 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. 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 MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.10.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total transaction of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. 1.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $103.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $75.00 and a one year high of $104.68. The company has a market cap of $22.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.89.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 45.78%.

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.