Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.24 EPS

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24), Briefing.com reports. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The business had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

NYSE:PFG traded down $2.89 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,833,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,106,820. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $81.05. The company has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.66, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group has a twelve month low of $66.21 and a twelve month high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a $0.72 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.53%. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Raymond James raised Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.42.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.