Raymond James Upgrades Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) to “Strong-Buy”

Raymond James upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) from a market perform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Raymond James currently has $99.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $81.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Principal Financial Group from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an in-line rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $85.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $84.92.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.3 %

PFG stock opened at $84.93 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.66. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $66.21 and a fifty-two week high of $86.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.29.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.48 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.69. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is currently 54.20%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Principal Financial Group

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. City State Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.7% during the first quarter. City State Bank now owns 8,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $709,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% during the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 3,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $926,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 3.1% during the first quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

Principal Financial Group Company Profile

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.