42,643 Shares in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Bought by Centiva Capital LP

Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 42,643 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,301,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,223 shares of the company's stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,730 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636 shares of the company's stock worth $204,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 11,241 shares of the company's stock worth $870,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $91.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $65.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $83.31.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $76.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $91.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.49.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio is 65.10%.

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.

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