Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $90.70.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, EVP Wee Yee Cheong sold 1,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.04, for a total value of $160,470.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 81,421 shares in the company, valued at $6,924,041.84. This represents a 2.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 1st quarter valued at $182,000. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 39.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 5,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,000 after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 27,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,323,000 after buying an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 8.1% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 34,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,943,000 after buying an additional 2,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 443.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 645,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,597,000 after acquiring an additional 526,701 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $89.42 on Friday. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $92.10. The firm has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.97. 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 (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 27th. The company reported $2.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.12. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period last year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd were paid 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 of this dividend was Wednesday, December 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.00%.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.