Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 415 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 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 415 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,624,000 after purchasing an additional 18,368 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 27,827 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased 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 worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,097,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 57.3% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,014,000 after buying an additional 65,070 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PFG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of PFG stock opened at $84.16 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $84.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.71 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.73%.

Principal Financial Group 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.