Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Acquired by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,359 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 422 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,844,000 after purchasing an additional 152,774 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,393,000 after buying an additional 39,854 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,903,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,301,000 after buying an additional 53,516 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,404,000 after acquiring an additional 115,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 478,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,487 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $81.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.89. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $68.69 and a 12 month high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -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.