Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Releases Earnings Results

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) issued its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09), Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 4.56% and a return on equity of 15.14%. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.48 EPS.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.4 %

NYSE:PFG traded down $1.96 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.10. The stock had a trading volume of 894,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,122,974. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $65.17 and a one year high of $86.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $18.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50 day moving average is $81.80 and its 200-day moving average is $77.39.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 112.65%.

Principal Financial Group announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, February 12th that permits the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $80.64.

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.