Headlands Technologies LLC Buys 4,386 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 43.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,398 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,386 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 66.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 9,933 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $771,000. Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after buying an additional 8,169 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 135.6% during the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 22,469 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 12,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2,064.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 148,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,480,000 after acquiring an additional 141,447 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $95.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE PFG opened at $85.15 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $84.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.75. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.21 and a fifty-two week high of $91.98. The company has a market cap of $19.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.52%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

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.