Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Cuts Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC decreased its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,027 shares of the company’s stock after selling 203 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.4% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 85,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,164,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 31,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,280,000 after acquiring an additional 420 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 102,915 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,417,000 after acquiring an additional 18,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 789 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $80.30.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $81.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $19.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.72. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.67%.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.