Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Receives $106.67 Consensus PT from Analysts

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $108.8333.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $114.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,581,000. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter worth $2,157,181,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth $32,473,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1,219.5% in the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 51,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,516,000 after acquiring an additional 47,316 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,277,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $116.90 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $112.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.77. The company has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.86. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $77.90 and a 1 year high of $121.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 9.62 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 Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 47.73%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1879, the company provides investment management, retirement, insurance and financial wellness solutions to businesses, individuals and institutional investors.

Principal offers employer-sponsored retirement plans, including defined contribution and defined benefit programs, as well as pension risk transfer solutions. Its insurance products and services include group benefits, individual life insurance and disability insurance.