Claro Advisors Inc. Purchases Shares of 26,978 Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Claro Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 26,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,380,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $273,276,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.7% in the 4th 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 during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on PFG. Evercore set a $108.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of 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. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upped 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 research report on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.10.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In related news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 28,317 shares of company stock valued at $2,884,902. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.9%

PFG opened at $110.22 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.00 and a twelve month high of $112.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a fifty day moving average of $101.15 and a 200-day moving average of $94.25. The stock has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a PE ratio of 15.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88.

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 company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. Principal Financial Group’s dividend 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.