First Pacific Financial Has $44,000 Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

First Pacific Financial grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 91.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 564 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. First Pacific Financial’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $44,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1,218.9% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 250,602 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,715,000 after buying an additional 231,601 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. CVA Family Office LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 277,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,804,000 after acquiring an additional 37,836 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $503,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $86.07 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 12.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.06. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $86.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.13. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.70 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 112.65%.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.18.

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.