Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Reduce" from ten brokerages, with the stock rated as sell by three analysts and buy by two analysts.
• A significant institutional investment increase was noted, with Victory Capital Management raising its stake by 802.2% during the first quarter, and overall institutional ownership standing at 75.08%.
• Principal Financial Group recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78, increasing from the previous $0.76, which indicates a positive change in the company's returns to shareholders.

Shares of Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $88.60.

PFG has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $101.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 802.2% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,707,534 shares of the company's stock valued at $312,805,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,608 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the 2nd quarter valued at about $227,098,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 114.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,613,143 shares of the company's stock valued at $220,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,008 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 57.6% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,791,246 shares of the company's stock worth $144,213,000 after buying an additional 654,408 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of PFG stock opened at $78.63 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.03. Principal Financial Group has a twelve month low of $68.39 and a twelve month high of $91.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $80.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.46.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The company reported $2.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.97 by $0.19. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.68% and a net margin of 9.74%.During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 4th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. Principal Financial Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.78%.

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.

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