Analysts Set Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) Price Target at $105.08

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $105.00.

PFG has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $91.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Atlantic Securities set a $94.00 price target on Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Citigroup lowered shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on Principal Financial Group from $92.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of Principal Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $99.00 to $111.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Principal Financial Group

In other news, insider Wee Yee Cheong sold 7,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.16, for a total value of $777,207.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 66,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,854,259.88. The trade was a 10.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel George Djurasovic sold 2,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.83, for a total value of $259,233.93. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 21,906 shares in the company, valued at $2,208,781.98. This trade represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 28,317 shares of company stock worth $2,884,902 over the last ninety days. 1.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PFG. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the 4th quarter valued at $273,276,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Principal Financial Group by 112.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,348,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $207,138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244,668 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in shares of Principal Financial Group by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 12,370,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $982,617,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,991 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its position in Principal Financial Group by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,023,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,800,000 after purchasing an additional 776,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 23.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,376,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,970,000 after buying an additional 636,334 shares during the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Principal Financial Group Trading Up 1.9%

NASDAQ PFG opened at $109.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $108.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $98.37. Principal Financial Group has a 52-week low of $75.00 and a 52-week high of $114.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.01 by $0.06. Principal Financial Group had a return on equity of 16.25% and a net margin of 10.10%.The firm had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.81 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Principal Financial Group will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

About Principal Financial Group

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ: PFG) is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, that provides a range of retirement, investment and insurance solutions to individuals, employers and institutional clients. The firm’s business is organized around retirement services, asset management, and insurance products designed to help clients plan, invest for, and protect income over the long term.

Principal’s product and service offerings include retirement plan recordkeeping and administration for employer-sponsored plans, individual and group retirement annuities, life and disability insurance, employee benefits solutions, and wealth management services.