Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.73

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, October 23rd,Wall Street Journal reports. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.72.

Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Principal Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 34.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 Stock Down 0.2 %

PFG opened at $87.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $72.21 and a fifty-two week high of $91.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $86.41 and its 200 day moving average is $82.48. The stock has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -96.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.20.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.72 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PFG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.92.

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.