Barclays Boosts Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target to $75.00

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $74.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underweight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s target price points to a potential downside of 13.57% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Raymond James raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $99.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $85.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $85.58.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PFG traded up $0.91 on Wednesday, hitting $86.78. The company had a trading volume of 39,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,362. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.51 and a 200 day moving average of $81.32. Principal Financial Group has a 52-week low of $66.21 and a 52-week 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 0.36.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.87 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $4.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 14.92% and a net margin of 8.05%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 7.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,602,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,844,000 after buying an additional 152,774 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.0% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,905,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,393,000 after acquiring an additional 39,854 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,157,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $169,747,000 after acquiring an additional 200,056 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,903,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $149,301,000 after purchasing an additional 53,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 692,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,786,000 after purchasing an additional 43,190 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.08% of the company’s stock.

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.