Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to “Equal Weight” Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $91.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $85.00.

PFG has been the subject of a number of other reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $103.00 price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Morgan Stanley set a $93.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $93.89.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $94.68 on Wednesday. Principal Financial Group has a fifty-two week low of $68.39 and a fifty-two week high of $97.88. 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 company has a market cap of $20.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.61.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The company reported $2.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.22 by ($0.03). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 9.74% and a return on equity of 14.68%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Principal Financial Group has set its FY 2026 guidance at 9.010-9.260 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

Principal Financial Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a $0.80 dividend. This is a positive change from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Principal Financial Group’s payout ratio is 60.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Principal Financial Group news, CEO Deanna D. Strable-Soethout sold 9,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.12, for a total transaction of $884,616.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 144,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,713,260.16. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 24,965 shares of company stock valued at $2,352,460. Company insiders own 1.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Principal Financial Group

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Principal Financial Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Traub Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Principal Financial Group during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Principal Financial Group in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Capital A Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Principal Financial Group by 5,533.3% in the 2nd quarter. Capital A Wealth Management LLC now owns 338 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 332 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, commonly known as Principal, is a global financial services company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa. The firm provides a broad range of retirement, investment management and insurance solutions for individual, employer and institutional clients. Its core businesses include retirement plan services and recordkeeping, asset management, and life and disability insurance, supported by distribution through employers, financial advisors and direct channels.

On the retirement side, Principal offers 401(k) and other workplace retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuity products designed to help clients accumulate and manage retirement savings.