Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.71

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 24th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.71 per share on Thursday, June 27th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.69.

Principal Financial Group has raised its dividend payment by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Principal Financial Group has a payout ratio of 33.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Principal Financial Group to earn $8.44 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.6%.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.8 %

PFG stock traded up $1.44 during trading on Monday, reaching $82.65. The company had a trading volume of 787,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,120,693. The business has a 50 day moving average of $81.84 and a 200 day moving average of $77.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The company has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.77, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.24. Principal Financial Group has a 52 week low of $65.17 and a 52 week high of $86.79.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 7.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to buyback $1.50 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on PFG shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $80.30.

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.