Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 224,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,919 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Principal Financial Group worth $17,609,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 326,188 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,661,000 after purchasing an additional 27,887 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,072.3% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 3,903 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 72,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,734,000 after buying an additional 4,035 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 152.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 373 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $74.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $81.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.90. The company has a market cap of $19.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Asset Management, and Benefits and Protection segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides retirement, and related financial products and services.