Morgan Stanley Boosts Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target to $72.00

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price increased by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $71.00 to $72.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 0.01% from the stock’s current price.

PFG has been the topic of several other research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $78.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $66.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $64.00 to $62.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.38.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Principal Financial Group stock traded up $0.37 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 62,810 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,142. The stock has a market cap of $17.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $71.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.31 and a quick ratio of 0.31. Principal Financial Group has a 52 week low of $65.17 and a 52 week high of $93.95.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.07. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 10.54%. The business had revenue of $3.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.58 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 6.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 932.1% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,124,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,765,000 after purchasing an additional 3,725,293 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 72.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 4,902,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $364,318,000 after buying an additional 2,063,939 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 67.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,514,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,816,343 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter worth $78,939,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 307.9% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,133,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,223,000 after purchasing an additional 855,747 shares in the last quarter. 70.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments.