Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.24 EPS

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) released its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by ($0.24), Briefing.com reports. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 15.06% and a net margin of 8.70%. The company had revenue of $4.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG traded down $2.89 on Friday, hitting $81.53. 1,833,411 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,106,820. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.05. The firm has a market cap of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. Principal Financial Group has a one year low of $66.21 and a one year high of $88.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 5th will be given a dividend of $0.72 per share. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 54.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PFG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $85.42.

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.