Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target Raised to $91.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $90.00 to $91.00 in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $81.00 in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.90.

Principal Financial Group Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $82.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group has a 52-week low of $68.39 and a 52-week high of $90.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $81.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.89.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 134 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.6% in the 1st quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG now owns 1,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. 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.