Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Hits New 1-Year High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday, trading as high as $112.14 and closing near that level. The stock was up about 1.2% and has been trending above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain mixed on PFG despite recent price-target increases. The consensus rating is Hold, with an average target price of $98.10, even though some firms like Morgan Stanley and Raymond James recently raised their targets.
• The company posted solid quarterly results and raised its dividend. It beat EPS estimates at $2.07 per share, increased its quarterly dividend to $0.82, and now offers an annualized yield of about 3.0%.

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $112.14 and last traded at $112.0110, with a volume of 193673 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $109.57.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on PFG shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Principal Financial Group from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore set a $108.00 price objective on Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Raymond James Financial cut Principal Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $98.10.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.2%

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $101.83 and a 200-day moving average of $94.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.27. The company has a market cap of $23.96 billion, a PE ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.80. Principal Financial Group's payout ratio is 46.92%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 9,183 shares of Principal Financial Group stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.26, for a total transaction of $929,870.58. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 77,188 shares in the company, valued at $7,816,056.88. This trade represents a 10.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total transaction of $259,233.93. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 21,906 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 in the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company's stock worth $982,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,991 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,886,509 shares of the company's stock worth $350,187,000 after buying an additional 119,327 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company's stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter worth $273,276,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,079,857 shares of the company's stock worth $271,674,000 after buying an additional 55,669 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company's stock.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

Principal Financial Group NASDAQ: PFG is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm's business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal's product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.

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