Principal Financial Group on Monday announced that its board of directors has approved a new authorization for the repurchase of up to $300 million of the company’s outstanding common stock. As of March 31, approximately $96 million remained under the company’s $250 million authorization that was approved in May 2017. The repurchases will be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions from time to time, depending on market conditions. Principal had 286.4 million shares of common stock outstanding as of April 25. Principal previously announced in its 2018 outlook call that it anticipates deploying between $900 million to $1.3 billion of capital this year.