Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Sold by Gilbert & Cook Inc.

Gilbert & Cook Inc. decreased its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,918 shares of the company’s stock after selling 292 shares during the quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 worth $569,844,000 after acquiring an additional 152,774 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,393,000 after acquiring an additional 39,854 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 53,516 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,404,000 after buying an additional 115,569 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 478,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,509,000 after buying an additional 2,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. 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 note on Tuesday, July 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $86.56 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $85.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $82.22. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.37 and a 1-year high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The company 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.09 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently -320.00%.

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.