Fulton Bank N.A. Buys Shares of 8,531 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Fulton Bank N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $769,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $998,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $32,473,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 47.3% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,630,000 after buying an additional 16,171 shares in the last quarter. LBP AM SA purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $10,400,000. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $1,650,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on PFG. Weiss Ratings cut Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Activity

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

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NASDAQ PFG opened at $110.87 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $112.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.92%.

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.