Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $107.75

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $107.75.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Principal Financial Group from $120.00 to $112.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $112.00 to $109.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $86.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 15th.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,157,181,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.8% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,264,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,346,000 after buying an additional 85,014 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,819,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,721,000 after purchasing an additional 420,319 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after buying an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.4% during the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,216,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,854,000 after acquiring an additional 244,550 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

PFG stock opened at $111.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $112.15 and a 200-day moving average of $103.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Principal Financial Group has a 12-month low of $80.00 and a 12-month high of $121.18. The firm has a market cap of $23.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.87.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.46 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.31 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 11.89% and a return on equity of 16.51%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 37.33%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company that helps individuals and businesses build, protect and manage wealth. Its offerings include retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, investment products, life and disability insurance, and financial wellness solutions. The company also provides institutional investment management and pension-risk transfer services.

Principal serves employers, institutions and individual investors through a range of retirement and workplace benefits solutions.