Korea Investment CORP Raises Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Korea Investment CORP grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 44.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 192,166 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 59,000 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $15,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.5% in the second quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% during the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Principal Financial Group news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total transaction of $160,470.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares in the company, valued at $6,924,041.84. The trade was a 2.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $84.82 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $82.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.39 and a 52 week high of $90.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.02.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on PFG. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $81.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.