Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $85.58.

Several research firms have recently commented on PFG. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.3 %

PFG stock opened at $79.45 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.21. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $88.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.72 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 5th. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.96%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.4% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock valued at $569,844,000 after acquiring an additional 152,774 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,393,000 after buying an additional 39,854 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,990,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,783,578 shares of the company’s stock worth $218,984,000 after buying an additional 144,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,157,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,747,000 after buying an additional 200,056 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.