GAMMA Investing LLC Has $280,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 83.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,572 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $280,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,990,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 35,473.1% in the 4th quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,080,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,964 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2,594.0% in the 4th quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 575,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,313,000 after acquiring an additional 554,606 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 282.0% in the 1st quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 308,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,633,000 after acquiring an additional 227,608 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 165.2% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,162,000 after acquiring an additional 210,476 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James raised Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:PFG traded down $2.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $72.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,595,661 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,125,125. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.90, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $80.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.15. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.96%.

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.