Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Shares Sold by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of PFG. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $771,000. Columbus Macro LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after buying an additional 8,169 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 135.6% in the fourth quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 22,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 12,933 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 2,064.3% in the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 148,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,480,000 after buying an additional 141,447 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 630.3% in the fourth quarter. Entropy Technologies LP now owns 25,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,936,000 after buying an additional 21,589 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $65.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.54.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.5%

PFG opened at $81.42 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $68.39 and a fifty-two week high of $91.98. The business has a 50-day moving average of $78.11 and a 200-day moving average of $81.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $18.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by ($0.02). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.76 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.10%.

Principal Financial Group 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.