Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Trims Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,308 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,901 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. City State Bank raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the first quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.1% in the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $458,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:PFG opened at $81.43 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.11. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.21 and a 1-year high of $88.26. The firm has a market cap of $19.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.21.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.41 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued 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 yield of 3.54%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.20%.

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.