Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $81.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $80.00.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on PFG. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.70.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:PFG opened at $79.62 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.91 and its 200 day moving average is $78.70. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $68.39 and a 12 month high of $90.31. The company has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,805,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,608 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth $227,098,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Principal Financial Group by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,791,246 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,213,000 after buying an additional 654,408 shares during 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.