Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Stock: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Holdings

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 464,094 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,682 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.22% of Principal Financial Group worth $51,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,581,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth approximately $2,157,181,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,436,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth $741,960,000. Finally, VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $47,220,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.75.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 4.1%

PFG stock opened at $117.31 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.00 and a 12 month high of $121.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.83. The company has a market cap of $24.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.87.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.51% and a net margin of 11.89%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.18 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, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 37.33%.

Principal Financial Group Company 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.