Piper Sandler Boosts Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target to $90.00

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by analysts at Piper Sandler from $85.00 to $90.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler's target price would indicate a potential upside of 6.50% from the stock's current price.

PFG has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI raised Principal Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.64.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG traded down $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $84.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 882,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,170,642. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $86.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $81.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.53.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $2.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.14% and a net margin of 4.56%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.70 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $253,990,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 67.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,514,124 shares of the company's stock worth $378,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,343 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 35,473.1% in the fourth quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,080,000 shares of the company's stock worth $84,964,000 after acquiring an additional 1,076,964 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 307.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,133,674 shares of the company's stock worth $83,223,000 after acquiring an additional 855,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth $46,453,000. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.