Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in PagSeguro Digital Ltd. (NYSE:PAGS) by 23.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 403,938 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,543 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in PagSeguro Digital were worth $3,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PAGS. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new position in PagSeguro Digital in the 1st quarter worth $291,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in PagSeguro Digital by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 51,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 11,236 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in PagSeguro Digital in the 1st quarter worth about $186,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 6.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,505,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,496,000 after acquiring an additional 92,026 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of PagSeguro Digital by 43.5% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 34,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 10,604 shares during the period. 45.88% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PagSeguro Digital Price Performance

Shares of PAGS stock opened at $7.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.95. PagSeguro Digital Ltd. has a one year low of $7.35 and a one year high of $14.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $8.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.82.

PagSeguro Digital (NYSE:PAGS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 20th. The company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $874.38 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $816.34 million. PagSeguro Digital had a return on equity of 15.49% and a net margin of 11.12%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that PagSeguro Digital Ltd. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAGS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $16.00 to $13.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of PagSeguro Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of PagSeguro Digital from $14.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $6.50 price target (down from $14.00) on shares of PagSeguro Digital in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of PagSeguro Digital from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $12.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, PagSeguro Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.36.

PagSeguro Digital Profile

PagSeguro Digital Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, provides financial technology solutions and services for consumers, individual entrepreneurs, micro-merchants, and small and medium-sized companies in Brazil and internationally. The company's products and services include PagSeguro Ecosystem, a digital ecosystem that operates as a closed loop where its clients are able to address their primary day to day financial needs, including receiving and spending funds, and managing and growing their businesses; PagBank digital account, which offers payment and banking services through the PagBank mobile app, as well as centralizes various cash-in options, functionalities, services, and cash-out options in a single ecosystem; and PlugPag, a tool for medium-sized and larger merchants that enables them to connect their point of sale (POS) device directly to their enterprise resource planning software or sales automation system through Bluetooth.