Petrus Trust Company LTA Trims Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA has reduced its stake in Principal Financial Group by 46.7% in the first quarter, leaving it with 4,361 shares valued at approximately $368,000.
• Principal Financial Group announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.78, up from $0.76, representing a 3.9% dividend yield.
• Analysts have varied opinions on the stock, with target prices ranging from $72.00 to $88.00 and an average rating of "Reduce."

Petrus Trust Company LTA reduced its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Free Report) by 46.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,361 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,816 shares during the quarter. Petrus Trust Company LTA's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% in the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,323,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.9% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the first quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,380 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 32.3% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 684 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.0% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 1,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $152,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $79.98 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The firm has a market cap of $17.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.10.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period last year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict 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, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 62.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $72.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $86.90.

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.

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