Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.73 Per Share

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of 0.73 per share on Wednesday, December 18th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Principal Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Principal Financial Group has a payout ratio of 34.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Principal Financial Group to earn $8.40 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.92 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 34.8%.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $87.09 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.46. Principal Financial Group has a 12-month low of $72.21 and a 12-month high of $91.97. The stock has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -96.77, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.20.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PFG. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.