Principal Financial Group, Inc. $PFG Stock Position Raised by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 84,271 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,870 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $6,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth $3,269,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 3.4% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 25,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,989,000 after buying an additional 814 shares in the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the second quarter worth about $297,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 98.0% during the 2nd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,486,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of PFG stock opened at $90.29 on Friday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $92.51. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, December 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $91.60.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,924,041.84. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Principal Financial Group Profile

Principal Financial Group, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.