Cetera Investment Advisers Reduces Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Cetera Investment Advisers trimmed its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,255 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,281 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $51,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 35,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,607,000 after buying an additional 7,292 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 55.6% during the 1st quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after buying an additional 5,657 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 32,506 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,386,000 after buying an additional 1,564 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,345,000. 70.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PFG. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 6th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE PFG opened at $72.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $17.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.34. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.17 and a fifty-two week high of $93.87.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.58 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 10.54%. Sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 6.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This represents a $2.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 44.15%.

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 Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments.