Here is What Hedge Funds Think About Principal Financial Group Inc (PFG)

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Judging by the fact that Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) has weathered bearish sentiment from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there was a specific group of hedge funds that slashed their positions entirely last quarter. Intriguingly, Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group cut the biggest stake of all the investors tracked by Insider Monkey, comprising close to $1.5 million in call options. Ray Dalio’s fund, Bridgewater Associates, also dumped its stock, about $1.1 million worth.

Let’s now review hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA), and Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG). This group of stocks’ market valuations are closest to PFG’s market valuation.

Ticker No of HFs with positions Total Value of HF Positions (x1000) Change in HF Position
AAP 62 2779651 11
TWTR 47 1080032 17
PBA 11 46092 -1
CMG 41 1595089 2

As you can see these stocks had an average of 40 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $1.38 billion. That figure was $119 million in PFG’s case. Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Pembina Pipeline Corp (NYSE:PBA) is the least popular one with only 11 bullish hedge fund positions. Principal Financial Group Inc (NYSE:PFG) is not the least popular stock in this group but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE:AAP) might be a better candidate to consider taking a long position in.

Disclosure: none

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