Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFGGet Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $100.90.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PFG shares. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $95.00 price target (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $113.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

View Our Latest Research Report on PFG

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 77,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,816,056.88. This represents a 10.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PFG. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $207,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,244,668 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after buying an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after buying an additional 776,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $110.87 on Friday. Principal Financial Group has a 12-month low of $75.00 and a 12-month high of $112.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.72 and its 200 day moving average is $96.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFGGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. Research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 9.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 46.92%.

About Principal Financial Group

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG)

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