City State Bank Sells 150 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

City State Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 1.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,707 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. City State Bank’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,466,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $422,074,000 after purchasing an additional 52,410 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,662,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,546,000 after purchasing an additional 326,604 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth about $217,021,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,534,000 after purchasing an additional 118,722 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,877,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,318,000 after purchasing an additional 209,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $67.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.85.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $76.97 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.98. The firm has a market cap of $17.26 billion, a PE ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. 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 50 day simple moving average of $76.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.37.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.65 EPS. 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 business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 65.10%.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.