Piper Sandler Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Stock

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price upped by Piper Sandler from $90.00 to $93.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $69.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.54.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $84.94 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $80.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.07. The company has a market capitalization of $19.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.22. Principal Financial Group has a 52-week low of $72.21 and a 52-week high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.30.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.53%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 12th. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,466,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,074,000 after buying an additional 52,410 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter valued at about $217,021,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,534,000 after buying an additional 118,722 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,448,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,129,000 after buying an additional 44,818 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 24.1% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,359,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,511,000 after buying an additional 264,383 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.