Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG)

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $91.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.64% from the company’s current price.

PFG has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Principal Financial Group from $94.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $95.00 to $92.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (down from $86.00) on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.25.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.6 %

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $82.16. The company has a market capitalization of $18.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 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 quick ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.02 by ($0.26). The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Principal Financial Group had a negative net margin of 1.47% and a positive return on equity of 14.67%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Principal Financial Group will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PFG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,462,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,534,000 after buying an additional 118,722 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,577,000 after acquiring an additional 18,801 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 12.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 806,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,293,000 after purchasing an additional 88,179 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 27.2% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 540,212 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,404,000 after purchasing an additional 115,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Principal Financial Group by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 503,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,367,000 after purchasing an additional 146,473 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.