Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) announced that its Board of Directors has approved an authorization for the repurchase of up to $400 million worth of the company’s outstanding common stock.
The repurchases will be made in the open market or through privately-negotiated transactions, from time to time, depending on market conditions. The stock repurchase program may be modified, extended or terminated at any time by the Board of Directors. Principal Financial Group, Inc. had 291.6 million shares of common stock outstanding as of Feb. 3, 2016.
“This action reflects our continued confidence in the underlying strength of our businesses as well as our opportunistic approach to capital deployment given the recent market pullback,” says Dan Houston, president and chief executive officer of The Principal®. “Our fee-based businesses drove nearly 70 percent of 2015 earnings, which generates higher levels of deployable capital and provides greater financial flexibility. This authorization is part of a balanced long-term capital deployment strategy that also includes common stock dividends and an active acquisition pipeline. As we announced on our 2016 outlook call, we anticipate deploying $800 million to $1 billion of capital in 2016.”
Forward looking and cautionary statements
This press release
contains forward-looking statements, including, without limitation,
statements as to operating earnings, net income available to common
stockholders, net cash flows, realized and unrealized gains and losses,
capital and liquidity positions, sales and earnings trends, and
management’s beliefs, expectations, goals and opinions. The company does
not undertake to update these statements, which are based on a number of
assumptions concerning future conditions that may ultimately prove to be
inaccurate. Future events and their effects on the company may not be
those anticipated, and actual results may differ materially from the
results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The risks,
uncertainties and factors that could cause or contribute to such
material differences are discussed in the company’s annual report on
Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, filed by the company with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as updated or supplemented
from time to time in subsequent filings. These risks and uncertainties
include, without limitation: adverse capital and credit market
conditions may significantly affect the company’s ability to meet
liquidity needs, access to capital and cost of capital; conditions in
the global capital markets and the economy generally; volatility or
declines in the equity, bond or real estate markets; changes in interest
rates or credit spreads or a sustained low interest rate environment;
the company’s investment portfolio is subject to several risks that may
diminish the value of its invested assets and the investment returns
credited to customers; the company’s valuation of investments and the
determination of the amount of allowances and impairments taken on such
investments may include methodologies, estimations and assumptions that
are subject to differing interpretations; any impairments of or
valuation allowances against the company’s deferred tax assets; the
company’s actual experience could differ significantly from its pricing
and reserving assumptions; the pattern of amortizing the company’s DAC
and other actuarial balances on its universal life-type insurance
contracts, participating life insurance policies and certain investment
contracts may change; the company may not be able to protect its
intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims; the
company’s ability to pay stockholder dividends and meet its obligations
may be constrained by the limitations on dividends or distributions Iowa
insurance laws impose on Principal Life; changes in laws, regulations or
accounting standards; results of litigation and regulatory
investigations; from time to time the company may become subject to tax
audits, tax litigation or similar proceedings, and as a result it may
owe additional taxes, interest and penalties in amounts that may be
material; applicable laws and the company’s certificate of incorporation
and by-laws may discourage takeovers and business combinations that some
stockholders might consider in their best interests; competition from
companies that may have greater financial resources, broader arrays of
products, higher ratings and stronger financial performance; a downgrade
in the company’s financial strength or credit ratings; changes in
investor preferences; inability to attract and retain qualified
employees and sales representatives and develop new distribution
sources; international business risks; fluctuations in foreign currency
exchange rates; the company may need to fund deficiencies in its “Closed
Block” assets that support participating ordinary life insurance
policies that had a dividend scale in force at the time of Principal
Life’s 1998 conversion into a stock life insurance company; the
company’s reinsurers could default on their obligations or increase
their rates; risks arising from acquisitions of businesses; and a
computer system failure or security breach could disrupt the company’s
business and damage its reputation.
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial
Group® (The Principal®)1 is a global
investment management leader offering retirement services, insurance
solutions and asset management. The Principal offers businesses,
individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products
and services, including retirement, asset management and insurance
through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in
1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal
Financial Group has $527.4 billion in assets under management2 and
serves some 19.1 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia,
Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal
Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the
ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com.
1 “The Principal Financial Group” and “The Principal” are
registered service marks of Principal Financial Services, Inc., a member
of the Principal Financial Group.
2 As of Dec. 31, 2015.
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