Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target Raised to $91.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $87.00 to $91.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on PFG. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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 report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:PFG opened at $85.73 on Tuesday. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $71.39 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -95.26, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $82.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its 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 negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently -324.44%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,911,000. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 15.8% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 123,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,648,000 after buying an additional 16,954 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 6.4% in the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,293,000 after buying an additional 88,179 shares during the period. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 0.6% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 100,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,670,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

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.