LPL Financial LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 8.5%, owning over 115,000 shares worth approximately $9.77 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Principal Financial Group recently announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.76 to $0.78, with a dividend yield of 4.1%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Principal Financial Group, with three sell ratings, five hold ratings, and two buy ratings, while the average price target is set at $86.70.

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,811 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,064 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned 0.05% of Principal Financial Group worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,805,000 after buying an additional 3,296,608 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,482,053 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,726,000 after acquiring an additional 627,865 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11,781.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 478,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,389,000 after acquiring an additional 474,686 shares during the period. Conning Inc. grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,166,000 after acquiring an additional 397,138 shares during the period. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,448,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on PFG. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "underweight" rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (up previously from $71.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.70.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of PFG traded up $0.65 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $77.89. 505,253 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,412,840. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $79.65. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $68.39 and a 52 week high of $91.97. The company has a market cap of $17.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.00.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 62.78%.

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.