JPMorgan Chase & Co. Upgrades Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) to “Overweight”

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) was upgraded by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $92.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $95.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 17.45% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PFG. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.42.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock opened at $78.33 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -87.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.22. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $72.21 and a 12 month high of $91.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $81.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.72 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 18,930 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 690 shares during the period. First Citizens Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp now owns 3,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 57.3% in the 4th quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,590 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,534,000 after purchasing an additional 118,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 231,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,867,000 after purchasing an additional 6,817 shares during the period. 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.