Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Receives $85.50 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $85.50.

Several research firms have commented on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $83.82 on Friday. Principal Financial Group has a twelve month low of $66.21 and a twelve month high of $88.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued 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 business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a $0.72 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 54.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,360,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,030,000 after purchasing an additional 149,353 shares in the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,624,000 after purchasing an additional 18,368 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

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.