Allstate Corp Buys 6,823 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 94.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,014 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,823 shares during the quarter. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake 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 worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG boosted its stake 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 worth $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $90,856,000 after purchasing an additional 506,841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 199.1% in the 3rd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 637,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,843,000 after purchasing an additional 424,231 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PFG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.10.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business’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 value of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $103.62 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.00 and a 12 month high of $105.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $96.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.08.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 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 firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

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

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.