Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) Trading 0.3% Higher – Still a Buy?

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) traded up 0.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $80.54 and last traded at $79.67. 808,993 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 33% from the average session volume of 1,200,873 shares. The stock had previously closed at $79.42.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Principal Financial Group from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 26th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Principal Financial Group has an average rating of “Hold”.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 0.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $80.45. The stock has a market cap of $17.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.03.

Principal Financial Group (NASDAQ:PFG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 7th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 15.63%. The business had revenue of $3.77 billion for the quarter.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 4th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 4th. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is presently 62.78%.

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 Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments.