Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Increases Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,257 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $1,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 59.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after acquiring an additional 9,048 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,624,000 after purchasing an additional 18,368 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 18.3% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 274,538 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,695,000 after purchasing an additional 42,521 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 7.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 4,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 586.1% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 234,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,267,000 after buying an additional 200,588 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $86.64 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $85.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.09. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.22 and a 52 week high of $91.97. The stock has a market cap of $19.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.27, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -320.00%.

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.