Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Reaches New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $106.00 to $107.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Principal Financial Group traded as high as $115.71 and last traded at $115.13, with a volume of 1161501 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $113.70.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on PFG. Evercore set a $108.00 target price on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.83.

Insider Transactions at Principal Financial Group

In other Principal Financial Group news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 66,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,854,259.88. This represents a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in Principal Financial Group in the first quarter worth approximately $244,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 7,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 4,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 96.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 1,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.1% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 37,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,015,000 after buying an additional 3,175 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.28 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $109.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.31, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.88.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.33 by $0.17. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.49% and a net margin of 9.93%.The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Principal Financial Group, Inc. will post 9.53 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 46.59%.

About Principal Financial Group

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.