Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.75 Per Share

Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:PFG) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 12th will be given a dividend of 0.75 per share on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 12th. This is a 2.7% increase from Principal Financial Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73.

Principal Financial Group has increased its dividend payment by an average of 5.3% annually over the last three years. Principal Financial Group has a payout ratio of 32.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Principal Financial Group to earn $9.30 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 32.3%.

Principal Financial Group Price Performance

Principal Financial Group stock opened at $85.61 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.28. The company has a market capitalization of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17. Principal Financial Group has a 1 year low of $72.21 and a 1 year high of $91.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.29.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on PFG. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $91.00 target price on shares of Principal Financial Group in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $69.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Principal Financial Group in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set a “market perform” rating and a $93.00 price target for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Principal Financial Group from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Principal Financial Group presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $85.92.

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.