American Century Companies Inc. Sells 17,434 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

American Century Companies Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,434 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $4,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 6,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,667,000. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 30.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 5,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,267 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,231,757 shares of the company’s stock worth $160,843,000 after purchasing an additional 249,127 shares during the period. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Adviser Investments LLC now owns 3,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.9 %

PFG opened at $86.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.13, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $86.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.06.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.13. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 4.56%. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Monday, February 12th that permits the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 11th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 112.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PFG shares. Evercore ISI upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $82.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.18.

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.