Axa S.A. Purchases Shares of 24,350 Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Axa S.A. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 24,350 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $115,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.4% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 21,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,904 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $2,099,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 24.6% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 127,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,994,000 after purchasing an additional 25,156 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 135.1% during the second quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 75,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,945,000 after purchasing an additional 43,548 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $85.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.21 and a 52 week high of $88.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.20 and its 200 day moving average is $81.22. The company has a market cap of $19.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.39, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Raymond James raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

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.