Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Receives $85.42 Average Price Target from Analysts

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.50.

A number of analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 163.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,377,000 after purchasing an additional 10,859 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 14,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $113,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 51.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,080 shares of the company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 4,994 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of PFG stock opened at $75.41 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $80.84 and a 200 day moving average of $81.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group has a 1-year low of $66.21 and a 1-year high of $88.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a PE ratio of 14.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.20%.

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.