Mather Group LLC. Has $203,000 Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,348 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $203,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $253,990,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 35,473.1% in the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,080,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,964,000 after purchasing an additional 1,076,964 shares during the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2,594.0% during the fourth quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P. now owns 575,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,313,000 after purchasing an additional 554,606 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 282.0% during the first quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 308,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,633,000 after purchasing an additional 227,608 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 165.2% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 337,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,162,000 after buying an additional 210,476 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on PFG. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.50.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock traded up $1.08 on Wednesday, reaching $74.45. 360,506 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,121,886. The company has a market capitalization of $17.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $66.21 and a 52 week high of $88.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.96%.

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.