Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Rating Increased to Overweight at Piper Sandler

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) was upgraded by research analysts at Piper Sandler from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler’s price target indicates a potential upside of 19.71% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $84.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down previously from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, one has issued a buy 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 $84.75.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

PFG stock opened at $75.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.30 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average is $84.98 and its 200-day moving average is $82.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of -83.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.20. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $72.21 and a 1 year high of $91.97.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $3.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a positive return on equity of 14.67% and a negative net margin of 1.47%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.72 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 7.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 2,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 5.6% in the second quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $546,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 7,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the period. 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.