Graham Capital Management L.P. Purchases 5,739 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 240.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,122 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,739 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $217,021,000. Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,482,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,726,000 after buying an additional 627,865 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,662,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $283,546,000 after buying an additional 326,604 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,359,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,511,000 after buying an additional 264,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 398.4% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 291,379 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,555,000 after acquiring an additional 232,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.54.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.8%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $81.04 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $91.98.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.65 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.10%.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.