Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Sells 1,115 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC cut its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 20.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,319 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,115 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,323,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of PFG stock opened at $82.74 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $90.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 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, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PFG. Morgan Stanley upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.90.

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.