Gentry Private Wealth LLC Takes $456,000 Position in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $456,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 1,072.3% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 4,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 3,903 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 72,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,734,000 after acquiring an additional 4,035 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 152.0% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,311,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,154,000 after buying an additional 29,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

NYSE PFG opened at $77.53 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $18.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.80, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.21 and a twelve month high of $88.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.87. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 54.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $74.00 price target for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.50.

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.