Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 1,712 Shares of IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of IDT Co. (NYSE:IDT) by 23.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,712 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IDT were worth $215,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in shares of IDT by 3.4% during the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 26,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $964,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its position in shares of IDT by 6.6% during the third quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 20,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of IDT during the third quarter worth about $54,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of IDT by 15.7% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 11,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $434,000 after buying an additional 1,547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in IDT by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 390,145 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,911,000 after buying an additional 2,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.34% of the company’s stock.

IDT Price Performance

IDT stock opened at $46.90 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.06 and a beta of 0.81. IDT Co. has a one year low of $32.08 and a one year high of $58.77. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $49.45 and a 200-day moving average of $42.35.

IDT (NYSE:IDT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $308.83 million for the quarter. IDT had a return on equity of 22.18% and a net margin of 6.10%.

IDT Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 24th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a yield of 0.42%. IDT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 6.85%.

Insider Activity at IDT

In other IDT news, CFO Marcelo Fischer sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.57, for a total transaction of $29,142.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,573 shares in the company, valued at $1,824,920.61. The trade was a 1.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nadine Shea sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.74, for a total value of $53,740.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 4,775 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $256,608.50. This represents a 17.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,698 shares of company stock worth $2,492,643 in the last ninety days. 25.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com raised IDT from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st.

IDT Company Profile

IDT Corporation provides communications and payment services in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through Fintech, National Retail Solutions, net2phone, and Traditional Communications segments. The company operates point of sale, a terminal-based platform which provides independent retailers store management software, electronic payment processing, and other ancillary merchant services; and provides marketers with digital out-of-home advertising and transaction data.