Billionaire Cliff Asness’ 5 New Stock Picks

1. Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

AQR Capital Management’s Stake Value as of 9/30: $11,543,000

Percentage of AQR Capital Management’s 13F Portfolio as of 9/30: 0.02%

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) is a provider of retirement, asset management and insurance products to businesses, individuals and institutional clients. Given rising interest rates, Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) has had an easier time making money for its life insurance business this year and its Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.69 exceeded estimates of $1.45. CEO Dan Houston said,

“We continued to see momentum across our businesses in the third quarter and generated $2.4 billion of positive total company net cash flow, despite headwinds from equity and fixed income markets and foreign exchange rates. Our diversified business strategy remained resilient as we delivered $427 million of non-GAAP operating earnings, or $1.69 per diluted share, in the quarter. We remain in a strong financial position with the financial flexibility, discipline, and experience to manage through this time of macroeconomic uncertainty. Through the third quarter, we deployed $2.2 billion of capital, of which $1.9 billion was returned to shareholders through common stock dividends and share repurchases, including more than $600 million in the third quarter.”

In Q3, AQR Capital Management established a new position of $11,543,000 in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG), ranking the company #1 on our list of Billionaire Cliff Asness’ 10 New Stock Picks.

You can also take a look at 15 Biggest IT Companies in the World and 15 Biggest Insurance Companies in the World.

Follow Insider Monkey on Twitter