Analysts Set Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Price Target at $85.58

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.42.

PFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $88.00 to $96.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 24,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 210,139 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,051,000 after purchasing an additional 14,923 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 2,192.3% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,850 shares during the period. City State Bank boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 9,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $808,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the period. Finally, Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 434.8% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 4,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $89.20 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $81.07 and its 200-day moving average is $81.42. The company has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 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 has a 12 month low of $66.21 and a 12 month high of $89.51.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 55.92%.

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.