Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, The Fly reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $79.00 to $70.00 in a report on Monday, July 11th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group to $76.00 in a research report on Monday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group to $81.00 in a research report on Monday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research report on Thursday, September 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $71.82.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 4.0 %

PFG stock opened at $72.41 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $61.05 and a fifty-two week high of $80.36. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $74.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.48. The stock has a market cap of $18.05 billion, a PE ratio of 4.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.30.

Principal Financial Group Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 8th will be issued a $0.64 dividend. This represents a $2.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 7th. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 15.56%.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 2,447 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.45, for a total value of $191,967.15. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,722,215. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 2,447 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.45, for a total value of $191,967.15. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,722,215. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sandra L. Helton sold 15,000 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.90, for a total value of $1,093,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 32,278 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,353,066.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 45,422 shares of company stock valued at $3,462,066 over the last three months. 1.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,028,108 shares of the company's stock worth $2,130,953,000 after purchasing an additional 150,598 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.4% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,253,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,707,017,000 after purchasing an additional 756,508 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 26.3% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 14,006,960 shares of the company's stock worth $1,028,251,000 after acquiring an additional 2,916,493 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,491,017 shares of the company's stock worth $975,805,000 after purchasing an additional 174,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,992,520 shares of the company's stock worth $360,225,000 after purchasing an additional 57,389 shares in the last quarter. 75.12% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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 Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments.

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