Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 21.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 233,758 shares of the company’s stock after selling 64,804 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Principal Financial Group worth $20,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 108.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,827 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 59.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 57.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,014,000 after purchasing an additional 65,070 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 54.2% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 9,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.0 %

NYSE:PFG opened at $84.15 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $85.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.20. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.39 and a 12 month high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.72 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.09 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 Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is -320.00%.

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.