Seven Eight Capital LP Sells 9,596 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Seven Eight Capital LP decreased its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 49.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,691 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,596 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 7.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 23,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Argent Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 28,467 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,233,000 after buying an additional 1,772 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 61.7% during the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 10,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $843,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,393,000 after acquiring an additional 39,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $19,698,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $85.61 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.21 and a twelve month high of $88.26. The firm has a market cap of $19.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.99. 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 (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share 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. Investors 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 yield of 3.36%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.