Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Has $258,000 Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 7.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,006 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Principal Financial Group were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 27,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,364,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 132.8% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $586,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC now owns 6,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $597,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 30,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,581,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $87.28 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.39 and a 12 month high of $91.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $86.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $82.42. The company has a market cap of $19.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted 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). Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.04 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -324.44%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.