Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.84 Per Share

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.84 per share on Friday, September 25th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 3rd. This is a 2.4% increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82.

Principal Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 2 years. Principal Financial Group has a dividend payout ratio of 36.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Principal Financial Group to earn $10.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.7%.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG opened at $111.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $108.31 and a 200-day moving average of $98.57. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $75.00 and a one year high of $114.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 0.27 and a quick ratio of 0.27.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 10.10% and a return on equity of 16.25%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PFG has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $95.00 price objective (down from $98.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays upped their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Evercore set a $108.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a report on Monday, April 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.00.

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.