Swiss National Bank Cuts Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Swiss National Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 0.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 695,900 shares of the company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $59,778,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 11,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $965,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 108.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after buying an additional 27,827 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 59.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 9,048 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 57.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 178,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,014,000 after buying an additional 65,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 54.2% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,317,000 after buying an additional 9,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $84.18 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.84 and a 200 day moving average of $82.30. The company has a market capitalization of $19.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.20. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.39 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. The company had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. 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 3.47%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently -320.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America reduced 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 research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

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.