Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Acquires 15,166 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,631 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,166 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Principal Financial Group worth $10,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays initiated coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of PFG stock opened at $77.53 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.21 and a 52-week high of $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.88.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio 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.