National Bank of Canada FI Has $6.21 Million Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 33.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 79,685 shares of the company’s stock after selling 39,324 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $6,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of PFG. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.2% during the second 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 holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $79.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.21 and a 12-month high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.64%. 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 presently 54.96%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.