Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Receives $98.10 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.10.

PFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $96.00 to $92.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial downgraded Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th.

Insider Activity at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the sale, the insider owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 over the last 90 days. 1.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $624,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Financial Group increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $401,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $105.03 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $98.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $75.00 and a one year high of $105.99.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.92%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.