Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $103.00 and last traded at $102.9860, with a volume of 224011 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $101.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFG. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $96.90.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.95.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 45.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 17,572 shares of company stock worth $1,776,769 over the last quarter. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $40,000. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,819,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,721,000 after purchasing an additional 420,319 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 62.1% in the first quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems now owns 22,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,000 after buying an additional 8,659 shares during the period. Finally, Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 4.2% in the first quarter. Oddo BHF Asset Management Sas now owns 38,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,499,000 after buying an additional 1,569 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.