Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Has $1.87 Million Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 57.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,156 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,695 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of PFG. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 343.6% in the 4th quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 346 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 398 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 3,754.5% during the 4th quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC now owns 424 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $95.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total value of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 17,572 shares of company stock valued at $1,776,769 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.13% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ PFG opened at $100.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.76 and a 200-day moving average of $89.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.89. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $75.00 and a 52 week high of $103.00. 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 released its 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. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 45.78%.

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.