Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Stock: Brookstone Capital Management Trims Stake

Key Points

• Brookstone Capital Management reduced its Principal Financial Group stake by 82.4% in the third quarter, selling 14,195 shares and retaining 3,038 shares valued at approximately $340,000.
• Despite Brookstone’s reduction, institutional ownership remains high at 75.08%, with major investors including State Street, Bank of America, Dimensional Fund Advisors and UBS increasing their positions.
• Principal Financial raised its quarterly dividend to $0.85 per share, implying a 3.0% yield, while analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating and a $107.75 target price. The company’s latest EPS of $2.22 missed estimates, though revenue exceeded expectations.

Brookstone Capital Management cut its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Free Report) by 82.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,038 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,195 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth $2,157,181,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,264,856 shares of the company's stock worth $1,106,346,000 after buying an additional 85,014 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,819,452 shares of the company's stock worth $794,721,000 after purchasing an additional 420,319 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock worth $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,216,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $238,854,000 after purchasing an additional 244,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG opened at $111.63 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.00 and a 52 week high of $121.18. The stock has a market cap of $23.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $4.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.31 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 16.51%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.27 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is presently 37.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Evercore set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.75.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company that helps individuals and businesses build, protect and manage wealth. Its offerings include retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, investment products, life and disability insurance, and financial wellness solutions. The company also provides institutional investment management and pension-risk transfer services.

Principal serves employers, institutions and individual investors through a range of retirement and workplace benefits solutions.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.