Mather Group LLC. Buys 231 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 10.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,348 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of PFG. City State Bank lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $274,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $926,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 38,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG traded up $1.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.45. 360,506 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,121,886. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $66.21 and a 52-week high of $88.26. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.00, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.96%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.50.

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.