Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Releases Earnings Results

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.25% and a net margin of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.48 earnings per share.

Principal Financial Group Trading Down 2.4 %

PFG opened at $79.12 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $81.78 and a 200 day moving average of $77.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. Principal Financial Group has a 12 month low of $65.17 and a 12 month high of $86.79. The firm has a market cap of $18.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.25.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.67. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 52.67%.

Principal Financial Group declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Monday, February 12th that allows the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 7.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $86.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.