Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target Raised to $89.00 at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $85.00 to $89.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective suggests a potential upside of 9.51% from the company's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on PFG. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Principal Financial Group from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $83.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $78.00.

Principal Financial Group Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock traded down $1.54 on Wednesday, reaching $81.27. The stock had a trading volume of 840,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,158,925. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $65.17 and a 1 year high of $86.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.25.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 12th. The company reported $1.83 EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 15.14%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.70 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,028,108 shares of the company's stock worth $2,130,953,000 after buying an additional 150,598 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 67.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,514,124 shares of the company's stock worth $378,825,000 after buying an additional 1,816,343 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,423,975 shares of the company's stock worth $318,836,000 after buying an additional 575,646 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.1% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,113,693 shares of the company's stock worth $301,986,000 after buying an additional 43,319 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,054,133 shares of the company's stock worth $297,615,000 after buying an additional 251,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.