Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) has earned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and six have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $76.67.
PFG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, September 21st. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $69.00 to $72.00 in a research note on Friday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group to $90.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 1st.
Insider Activity
In other news, EVP Roberto Walker sold 9,000 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $692,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,616,915.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Roberto Walker sold 9,000 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Monday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.95, for a total value of $692,550.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,008 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,616,915.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sandra L. Helton sold 14,033 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.05, for a total transaction of $1,123,341.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,460,512.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,455 shares of company stock valued at $3,491,908 in the last ninety days. 1.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group
Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 765,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,121,000 after purchasing an additional 18,894 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 16,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,211,000 after buying an additional 1,012 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 67,055 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,478,000 after buying an additional 4,005 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 28.4% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 12,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 75.12% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Principal Financial Group Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ PFG opened at $89.47 on Thursday. Principal Financial Group has a 52 week low of $61.05 and a 52 week high of $91.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.
Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 8th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.26. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 28.67% and a return on equity of 14.61%. The firm had revenue of $3.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.24 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Principal Financial Group Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 1st will be issued a $0.64 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 30th. This represents a $2.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 12.41%.
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 Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments.
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