BMO Capital Markets Begins Coverage on Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG)

BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 13.65% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Bank of America dropped 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:PFG opened at $81.83 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $18.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -90.92, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $72.21 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.24.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Columbus Macro LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 46.7% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,986,000 after acquiring an additional 8,169 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $1,435,000. Busey Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth about $226,000. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.