Fifth Third Bancorp Grows Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 821.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 84,116 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 74,986 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $7,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after acquiring an additional 636,334 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth $273,276,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,674,000 after acquiring an additional 55,669 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,498,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,416,000 after acquiring an additional 135,631 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG opened at $112.96 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.00 and a fifty-two week high of $114.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $106.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.37. The company has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 46.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFG. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased 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 report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective 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 analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $104.83.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was 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 owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company’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 transaction of $777,207.44. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. This trade represents a 10.18% 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 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

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.