Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Stock Has Average Price Target of $109.08

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $108.83.

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $98.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,613 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 6,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 921 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Financial Group grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Financial Group now owns 4,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $401,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 133 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 opened at $107.24 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $22.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.23, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.86. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $77.90 and a 12 month high of $121.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $113.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.85.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 9.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.73%.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. Founded in 1879, the company provides retirement, investment, insurance and financial wellness solutions to individuals, businesses and institutional clients.

Its offerings include employer-sponsored retirement plans, individual retirement accounts, pension and income solutions, group benefits, life insurance and specialty benefits. Through its investment management operations, Principal also provides asset management and related services to retirement plans, institutions and individual investors.

Principal Financial Group serves customers in the United States and selected international markets, including countries in Latin America and Asia.