Cerity Partners LLC Trims Stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Cerity Partners LLC cut its position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 29,179 shares of the company’s stock after selling 863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $2,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 66.2% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 9,933 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $771,000. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,169 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 22,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 12,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake 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 valued at $11,480,000 after purchasing an additional 141,447 shares during the period. 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 analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $65.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.69.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG opened at $73.09 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.90. The stock has a market cap of $16.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 1-year low of $68.39 and a 1-year high of $91.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

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.