Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Stock Rated “Hold” by Sell-Side Analysts

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $108.83.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Barclays cut their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $86.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at $2,157,181,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $741,960,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $164,848,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $132,735,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $124,372,000. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NASDAQ:PFG opened at $107.24 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $113.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $106.71. Principal Financial Group has a 52-week low of $77.90 and a 52-week high of $121.18. The firm has a market cap of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.86.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. The business had revenue of $3.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 9.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 47.73%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1879, the company provides retirement, investment, insurance and financial wellness solutions to individuals, businesses and institutional clients.

Its offerings include employer-sponsored retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, pension and income solutions, group benefits, life insurance and specialty benefits. Through its investment management operations, Principal also provides asset management and related services to retirement plans, institutions and individual investors.

Principal Financial Group serves customers in the United States and selected international markets, including countries in Latin America and Asia.