Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) have been given an average recommendation of “Reduce” by the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $86.90.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $76.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $88.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 0.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,345,064 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,172,018,000 after acquiring an additional 97,149 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $312,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Principal Financial Group during the second quarter valued at about $227,098,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,740,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,675,000 after purchasing an additional 139,953 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $81.84 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $68.39 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.78%.

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.