Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 23.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,200 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,849 shares during the quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $220,471,000 after buying an additional 1,393,008 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the first quarter worth approximately $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after acquiring an additional 526,701 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% during the first quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 4.0%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $79.42 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $17.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on PFG. Barclays raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $88.60.

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.