United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Invests $970,000 in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $970,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,970,000 after purchasing an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $273,276,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Citigroup cut Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.67.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $111.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $111.84 and a 200 day moving average of $102.07. The firm has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 15.83, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.87. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $77.90 and a one year high of $116.61.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

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.