Montag A & Associates Inc. Sells 355 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Montag A & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,241 shares of the company’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,360,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,030,000 after buying an additional 149,353 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,311,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,154,000 after buying an additional 29,462 shares during the period. Comerica Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,667,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth about $1,507,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.92.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of PFG traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $86.40. 310,086 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,091,070. The company has a market cap of $20.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.21. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $86.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.88 and its 200 day moving average is $80.69.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.70%. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.48 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.