Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Wells Fargo & Company

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $115.00 to $113.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PFG. Citigroup lowered Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.83.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $107.26 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a current ratio of 0.28. The company has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.26. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $77.90 and a fifty-two week high of $121.18.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.33 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 9.56 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, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 47.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $620,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 8.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $687,000 after buying an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.5% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 378,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,846,000 after buying an additional 50,877 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $1,106,346,000 after buying an additional 85,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group during the second quarter worth $420,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

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.