Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Shares Purchased by Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,847 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 443.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after acquiring an additional 526,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% in the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PFG. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $88.10.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.2%

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $81.77 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.20 and its 200-day moving average is $78.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $18.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. 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 company posted $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 62.78%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.