Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 1,740 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,231 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,360,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,030,000 after buying an additional 149,353 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,624,000 after buying an additional 18,368 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after acquiring an additional 27,827 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 9,048 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on PFG shares. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $74.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock opened at $81.32 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $66.21 and a one year high of $88.26. The firm has a market cap of $19.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. 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 50-day simple moving average of $80.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.86.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.