Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Hits New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) shares reached a new 52-week high on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $85.00 to $86.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Principal Financial Group traded as high as $88.72 and last traded at $88.69, with a volume of 22465 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $87.48.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.42.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PFG. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 296,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,624,000 after acquiring an additional 18,368 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 108.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 53,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,624,000 after purchasing an additional 27,827 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 59.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 24,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 9,048 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 181,776 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,689,000 after purchasing an additional 14,339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,097,000. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $20.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.79 and its 200 day moving average is $81.40.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 7.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 5th were given a $0.72 dividend. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 5th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is 55.92%.

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.