Bank of Montreal Can Has $28.63 Million Stock Holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG)

Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) by 50.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 357,262 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 120,100 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.15% of Principal Financial Group worth $28,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $493,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $709,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.1 %

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $86.09 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.13. Principal Financial Group, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $88.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

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

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.