Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Price Target to $68.00

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $74.00 to $68.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Principal Financial Group from $93.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $65.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $91.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.69.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG stock opened at $72.61 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $82.79 and a 200 day moving average of $83.08. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $68.39 and a 1 year high of $91.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.29 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.01.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th were given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 12th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. Principal Financial Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Principal Financial Group by 66.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 24,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after acquiring an additional 9,933 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Principal Financial Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $771,000. Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Principal Financial Group by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 25,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,986,000 after purchasing an additional 8,169 shares in the last quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Principal Financial Group by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. now owns 22,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,739,000 after purchasing an additional 12,933 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Principal Financial Group by 2,064.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 148,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,480,000 after buying an additional 141,447 shares in the last quarter. 75.08% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.