Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target Increased to $77.00 by Analysts at Barclays

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price lifted by research analysts at Barclays from $75.00 to $77.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential downside of 8.02% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Raymond James upgraded Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $88.00 to $86.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PFG opened at $83.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $84.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.72. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $66.71 and a 12 month high of $91.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.98, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.19.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 14.92%. The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.31 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PFG. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,844,000 after acquiring an additional 152,774 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,393,000 after buying an additional 39,854 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,903,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,301,000 after buying an additional 53,516 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 692,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,786,000 after acquiring an additional 43,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 0.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 478,129 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,509,000 after acquiring an additional 2,487 shares during the period. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.