Barclays Raises Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target to $77.00

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its price target increased by Barclays from $75.00 to $77.00 in a report issued on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $84.49 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $84.12 and its 200 day moving average is $81.75. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $66.71 and a one year high of $91.97. The firm has a market cap of $19.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -93.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is -320.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Cigna Investments Inc. New bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.2% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,404,000 after purchasing an additional 115,569 shares during the last quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 11.4% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 9,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 6,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 203,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,483,000 after buying an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.