State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 43,445 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 35.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,445 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $6,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,844,000 after purchasing an additional 152,774 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth about $253,990,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,783,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,984,000 after acquiring an additional 144,262 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,157,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,747,000 after acquiring an additional 200,056 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,903,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,301,000 after acquiring an additional 53,516 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PFG stock opened at $81.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.06 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.21 and a 1-year high of $88.26. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.01 and a 200 day moving average of $80.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.54%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.50.

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.