Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 3,714 Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 57,293 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,714 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $4,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heartland Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 5,496 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $91,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 38.7% in the 2nd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $775,000 after acquiring an additional 2,757 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 44.9% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 21,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,706,000 after acquiring an additional 6,735 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 49,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,552 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $87.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $81.32. The company has a market cap of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.70, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.19. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $66.21 and a 12-month high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.3 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.