Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 76,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 467 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $6,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,471,000 after buying an additional 1,393,008 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth $47,986,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 443.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after buying an additional 526,701 shares during the period. Finally, Conning Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 5,081.7% in the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 404,953 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,166,000 after buying an additional 397,138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of PFG opened at $82.20 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $81.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.80. The company has a market cap of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $68.39 and a twelve month high of $90.31.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.70.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.