Brokerages Set Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Price Target at $81.50

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) have received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and nine have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $82.60.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $78.46 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.58. Principal Financial Group has a 1-year low of $66.21 and a 1-year high of $86.79. The company has a market cap of $18.39 billion, a PE ratio of 14.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.48 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.44 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.20%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. City State Bank increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 4.2% in the second quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $672,000 after buying an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 36,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,900,000 after purchasing an additional 3,105 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 83.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,000 after purchasing an additional 1,630 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 76,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,497,000 after purchasing an additional 4,065 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 242.0% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 32,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 23,020 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

About Principal Financial Group

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.