Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.72 Per Share

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, July 25th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Thursday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of 0.72 per share on Friday, September 27th. This represents a $2.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.41%. This is a boost from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71.

Principal Financial Group has increased its dividend by an average of 5.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Principal Financial Group has a payout ratio of 33.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Principal Financial Group to earn $8.47 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 33.5%.

Principal Financial Group Stock Performance

Shares of PFG traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $84.42. 1,465,017 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,101,166. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.29 and a current ratio of 0.29. Principal Financial Group has a 1-year low of $66.21 and a 1-year high of $88.26.

Principal Financial Group (NYSE:PFG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by ($0.09). Principal Financial Group had a net margin of 8.70% and a return on equity of 15.06%. The firm had revenue of $4.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Principal Financial Group will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on PFG shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Principal Financial Group from $87.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $73.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Principal Financial Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.42.

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.