Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) had its price objective trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $107.00 to $106.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on PFG. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $117.00 to $115.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $125.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.75.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of PFG stock opened at $108.81 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.46, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.86. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $77.90 and a one year high of $121.18. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.11 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.93% and a return on equity of 16.49%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 3rd. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.73%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,157,181,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,264,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,106,346,000 after purchasing an additional 85,014 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 8,819,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,721,000 after purchasing an additional 420,319 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,187,000 after purchasing an additional 119,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.4% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,216,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,854,000 after purchasing an additional 244,550 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.