Is Principal Financial Stock a Good Investment?

Principal Financial Investment Advice

  PFG
To provide specific investment advice or recommendations on Principal Financial Group stock, we recommend investors consider the following general factors when evaluating Principal Financial Group. This will help you to make an informed decision on whether to include Principal Financial in one of your diversified portfolios:
  • Examine Principal Financial's financial health by looking at its balance sheet, income statement, and cash flow statement. Analyze key financial ratios, such as Price-to-Earnings (P/E), Price-to-Sales (P/S), and Price-to-Book (P/B), to determine whether the stock is fairly valued or over/undervalued.
  • Research Principal Financial's leadership team and their track record. Good management can help Principal Financial navigate difficult times and make strategic decisions that benefit shareholders and increases its net worth.
  • Consider the overall health of the Life & Health Insurance space and any emerging trends that could impact Principal Financial's business and its evolving consumer preferences.
  • Compare Principal Financial's performance and market position to its competitors. Analyze how Principal Financial is positioned in terms of product offerings, innovation, and market share.
  • Check if Principal Financial pays a dividend and its dividend yield and payout ratio.
  • Review what financial analysts are saying about Principal Financial's stock and their price targets. However, remember that analysts' opinions can vary, and their predictions may not always be accurate.
It's important to note that investing in Principal Financial Group stock, carries risks, and you should carefully consider your investment goals and risk tolerance before making any investment decisions. Also, remember that it's important for investors to have a long-term perspective and a well-diversified portfolio to manage the impact of stock market volatility on their investments. Below is a detailed guide on how to decide if Principal Financial Group is a good investment.
 
Sell
 
Buy
Strong Hold
Macroaxis provides advice on Principal Financial Group to complement and cross-verify current analyst consensus on Principal Financial. Our recommendation engine determines the firm's potential to grow exclusively from the perspective of an investor's current risk tolerance and investing horizon. To make sure Principal Financial is not overpriced, please check all Principal Financial fundamentals, including its number of shares shorted, cash and equivalents, earnings per share, as well as the relationship between the revenue and current ratio . Given that Principal Financial has a price to earning of 15.73 X, we recommend you to check out Principal Financial market performance and probability of bankruptcy to ensure the company can sustain itself in the current economic cycle given your recent risk tolerance and investing horizon.

Market Performance

Very WeakDetails

Volatility

Very steadyDetails

Hype Condition

Low keyDetails

Current Valuation

UndervaluedDetails

Odds Of Distress

LowDetails

Economic Sensitivity

Slowly supersedes the marketDetails

Investor Sentiment

AlarmedDetails

Analyst Consensus

HoldDetails

Financial Strenth (F Score)

HealthyDetails

Financial Leverage

Not RatedDetails

Reporting Quality (M-Score)

Unlikely ManipulatorDetails

Examine Principal Financial Stock

Researching Principal Financial's stock involves analyzing various aspects of the company and its industry to make an informed investment decision. The key areas to focus on are fundamentals, business model and competitive advantage. It is also important to analyze trends in revenue, net income, and cash flow, as well as key financial ratios, such as price-to-earnings (P/E), price-to-sales (P/S), and debt-to-equity (D/E). About 73.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors. The company has price-to-book ratio of 1.63. Typically companies with comparable Price to Book (P/B) are able to outperform the market in the long run. Principal Financial has Price/Earnings To Growth (PEG) ratio of 1.5. The entity recorded a loss per share of 0.74. The firm last dividend was issued on the 2nd of December 2024.
To determine if Principal Financial is a good investment, evaluating the company's potential for future growth is also very important. This may include expanding into new markets, launching new products or services, or improving operational efficiency. Companies with strong growth prospects can be more attractive investments. This aspect of the research should be conducted in the context of the overall market and industry in which the company operates and should include an analysis of growth potential, competitive landscape, and any regulatory or economic factors that could impact the business. Some of the essential points regarding Principal Financial's research are outlined below:
Principal Financial generated a negative expected return over the last 90 days
About 73.0% of the company shares are owned by institutional investors
On 18th of December 2024 Principal Financial paid $ 0.73 per share dividend to its current shareholders
Latest headline from gurufocus.com: Principal Financial Group Inc Announces Participation in UBS Financial Services Conference
Principal Financial uses earnings reports to provide investors with an update of all three financial statements, including the income statement, the balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. Therefore, it is also crucial when considering investing in Principal Financial Group. Every quarterly earnings report provides investors with an overview of sales, expenses, and net income for the most recent period. It also may provide a comparison to Principal Financial's previous reporting period. The quarterly earnings reports are usually disseminated to the public via Form 10-Q, which is a legal document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission every quarter.
12th of February 2024
Upcoming Quarterly Report
View
25th of April 2024
Next Financial Report
View
31st of December 2023
Next Fiscal Quarter End
View
12th of February 2024
Next Fiscal Year End
View
30th of September 2023
Last Quarter Report
View
31st of December 2022
Last Financial Announcement
View
Earnings surprises can significantly impact Principal Financial's stock price both in the short term and over time. Negative earnings surprises usually result in a price decline. However, it has been seen that positive earnings surprises lead to an immediate rise in a stock's price and a gradual increase over time. This is why we often hear news about some companies beating earning projections. Financial analysts spend a large amount of time predicting earnings per share (EPS) along with other important future indicators. Many analysts use forecasting models, management guidance, and additional fundamental information to derive an EPS estimate. Below are the table of largest EPS Surprises Principal Financial's investors have experienced.
Reported
Fiscal Date
Estimated EPS
Reported EPS
Surprise
2002-11-06
2002-09-300.520.580.0611 
2010-08-02
2010-06-300.660.59-0.0710 
2013-01-31
2012-12-310.740.820.0810 
2003-05-05
2003-03-310.550.630.0814 
2013-07-25
2013-06-300.820.910.0910 
2009-11-02
2009-09-300.650.740.0913 
2006-05-01
2006-03-310.760.850.0911 
2004-11-01
2004-09-300.570.660.0915 

Principal Financial Target Price Consensus

Principal target price is determined by taking all analyst projections and averaging them out. There is no one specific way to measure analysts' performance other than comparing it to past results via a very sophisticated attribution analysis. Principal Financial's target price projections below should be used in combination with other traditional price prediction techniques such as stock price forecasting, investor sentiment analysis, technical analysis, earnings estimate, and various momentum models.
   12  Hold
Most Principal analysts issue ratings four times a year, at intervals of three months. Ratings are usually accompanied by a target price to help potential investors understand Principal stock's fair price compared to its market value. Analysts arrive at stock ratings after researching the public financial statements of Principal Financial, talking to its executives and customers, or listening to those companies' conference calls.
Macroaxis Advice   Exposure   Valuation

Principal Financial Target Price Projection

Principal Financial's current and average target prices are 81.66 and 88.67, respectively. The current price of Principal Financial is the price at which Principal Financial Group is currently trading. On the other hand, Principal Financial's target price is what analysts think the stock is worth or could sell for in the future. The more significant the discrepancy between the two prices, the more it stimulates investors to act.

Current Price

Principal Financial Market Quote on 18th of January 2025

Low Price81.19Odds
High Price81.99Odds

81.66

Target Price

Analyst Consensus On Principal Financial Target Price

Low Estimate80.69Odds
High Estimate98.42Odds

88.6667

Historical Lowest Forecast  80.69 Target Price  88.67 Highest Forecast  98.42
Note that most analysts generally publish their price targets in research reports on specific companies, along with recommendations for the company's stock.Although price targets are often quoted in the financial news media, there could be a delay between the publication of the latest analyst outlook on Principal Financial Group and the information provided on this page.

Principal Financial Analyst Ratings

Principal Financial's analyst stock recommendations are determined by taking an average estimate of all analysts we track and classifying them as Strong Buy, Buy, Hold, Strong Sell, or Sell. Ratings generally communicate what analysts sense about Principal Financial stock, and they use a lot of effort and time to analyze it and arrive at a rating. That suggests that analyst recommendations are the outcome of an objective and thorough examination of Principal Financial's financials, market performance, and future outlook by experienced professionals. Principal Financial's historical ratings below, therefore, can serve as a valuable tool for investors.

Know Principal Financial's Top Institutional Investors

Have you ever been surprised when a price of an equity instrument such as Principal Financial is soaring high without any particular reason? This is usually happening because many institutional investors are aggressively trading Principal Financial Group backward and forwards among themselves. Principal Financial's institutional investor refers to the entity that pools money to purchase Principal Financial's securities or originate loans. Institutional investors include commercial and private banks, credit unions, insurance companies, pension funds, hedge funds, endowments, and mutual funds. Operating companies that invest excess capital in these types of assets may also be included in the term and may influence corporate governance by exercising voting rights in their investments.
Shares
Norges Bank2024-06-30
3.3 M
Morgan Stanley - Brokerage Accounts2024-09-30
2.9 M
Jpmorgan Chase & Co2024-09-30
2.4 M
Legal & General Group Plc2024-09-30
2.1 M
Bank Of New York Mellon Corp2024-09-30
1.9 M
Goldman Sachs Group Inc2024-09-30
1.7 M
Ubs Asset Mgmt Americas Inc2024-09-30
1.7 M
Hsbc Holdings Plc2024-09-30
1.5 M
Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc2024-09-30
1.4 M
Vanguard Group Inc2024-09-30
27.5 M
Blackrock Inc2024-09-30
19.9 M
Note, although Principal Financial's institutional investors appear to be way more sophisticated than retail investors, it remains unclear if professional active investment managers can reliably enhance risk-adjusted returns by an amount that exceeds fees and expenses.

Principal Financial's market capitalization trends

The company currently falls under 'Large-Cap' category with a total capitalization of 18.56 B.

Market Cap

10.52 Billion

Principal Financial's profitablity analysis

Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Return On Capital Employed 0.03  0.03 
Return On Equity 0.05  0.10 
The company has Net Profit Margin of (0.01) %, which means that it does not effectively control expenditures or properly executes on its pricing strategies. This is way below average. In the same way, it shows Net Operating Margin of (0.08) %, which entails that for every $100 of revenue, it lost $0.08.
Determining Principal Financial's profitability involves analyzing its financial statements and using various financial metrics to determine if Principal Financial is a good buy. For example, gross profit margin measures Principal Financial's profitability after accounting for the cost of goods sold, while net profit margin measures profitability after accounting for all expenses. Other important metrics include return on assets, return on equity, and free cash flow. By reviewing multiple sources and metrics, you can gain a complete picture of Principal Financial's profitability and make more informed investment decisions.

Principal Financial's Earnings Breakdown by Geography

Evaluate Principal Financial's management efficiency

At this time, Principal Financial's Return On Capital Employed is most likely to slightly decrease in the upcoming years. The Principal Financial's current Return On Equity is estimated to increase to 0.1, while Return On Tangible Assets are projected to decrease to 0. At this time, Principal Financial's Debt To Assets are most likely to increase slightly in the upcoming years. The Principal Financial's current Fixed Asset Turnover is estimated to increase to 20.34, while Other Assets are projected to decrease to roughly 163.1 B. Principal Financial's management efficiency ratios could be used to measure how well Principal Financial manages its routine affairs as well as how well it operates its assets and liabilities.
Last ReportedProjected for Next Year
Book Value Per Share 42.67  26.81 
Tangible Book Value Per Share 30.96  21.75 
Enterprise Value Over EBITDA 3.72  3.53 
Price Book Value Ratio 1.96  1.62 
Enterprise Value Multiple 3.72  3.53 
Price Fair Value 1.96  1.62 
Enterprise Value16.1 B10.8 B
The strategic decisions made by Principal Financial management significantly impact its financial stability and market performance. Evaluating these factors helps determine whether the stock is a worthwhile investment.
Dividend Yield
0.0365
Forward Dividend Yield
0.0365
Forward Dividend Rate
2.92
Beta
1.203

Basic technical analysis of Principal Stock

As of the 18th of January 2025, Principal Financial holds the Variance of 2.25, risk adjusted performance of (0.06), and Coefficient Of Variation of (1,255). Compared to fundamental indicators, the technical analysis model allows you to check existing technical drivers of Principal Financial, as well as the relationship between them. Please check Principal Financial standard deviation, maximum drawdown, as well as the relationship between the Maximum Drawdown and kurtosis to decide if Principal Financial is priced some-what accurately, providing market reflects its current price of 81.66 per share. Given that Principal Financial has information ratio of (0.08), we recommend you to check out Principal Financial's recent market performance to make sure the company can sustain itself at a future point.

Principal Financial's insider trading activities

Some recent studies suggest that insider trading raises the cost of capital for securities issuers and decreases overall economic growth. Trading by specific Principal Financial insiders, such as employees or executives, is commonly permitted as long as it does not rely on Principal Financial's material information that is not in the public domain. Local jurisdictions usually require such trading to be reported in order to monitor insider transactions. In many U.S. states, trading conducted by corporate officers, key employees, directors, or significant shareholders must be reported to the regulator or publicly disclosed, usually within a few business days of the trade. In these cases Principal Financial insiders are required to file a Form 4 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) when buying or selling shares of their own companies.

Principal Financial's Outstanding Corporate Bonds

Principal Financial issues bonds to finance its operations. Corporate bonds make up one of the largest components of the U.S. bond market, which is considered the world's largest securities market. Principal Financial uses the proceeds from bond sales for a wide variety of purposes, including financing ongoing mergers and acquisitions, buying new equipment, investing in research and development, buying back their own stock, paying dividends to shareholders, and even refinancing existing debt. Most Principal bonds can be classified according to their maturity, which is the date when Principal Financial Group has to pay back the principal to investors. Maturities can be short-term, medium-term, or long-term (more than ten years). Longer-term bonds usually offer higher interest rates but may entail additional risks.

Understand Principal Financial's technical and predictive indicators

Using predictive indicators to make investment decisions involves analyzing Principal Financial's various financial and market-based factors to help forecast future trends and identify investment opportunities. Select the indicators that are most relevant to your investment strategy. Each indicator has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it's essential to combine multiple indicators to get a more comprehensive view of the market and reduce the risk of making poor decisions based on limited data.

Consider Principal Financial's intraday indicators

Principal Financial intraday indicators are useful technical analysis tools used by many experienced traders. Just like the conventional technical analysis, daily indicators help intraday investors to analyze the price movement with the timing of Principal Financial stock daily movement. By combining multiple daily indicators into a single trading strategy, you can limit your risk while still earning strong returns on your managed positions.

Principal Financial Corporate Filings

F4
20th of December 2024
The report filed by a party regarding the acquisition or disposition of a company's common stock, as well as derivative securities such as options, warrants, and convertible securities
ViewVerify
19th of December 2024
Other Reports
ViewVerify
8K
14th of November 2024
Report filed with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders should know about
ViewVerify
31st of October 2024
Other Reports
ViewVerify
Principal Financial time-series forecasting models is one of many Principal Financial's stock analysis techniques aimed to predict future share value based on previously observed values. Time-series forecasting models ae widely used for non-stationary data. Non-stationary data are called the data whose statistical properties e.g. the mean and standard deviation are not constant over time but instead, these metrics vary over time. These non-stationary Principal Financial's historical data is usually called time-series. Some empirical experimentation suggests that the statistical forecasting models outperform the models based exclusively on fundamental analysis to predict the direction of the market movement and maximize returns from investment trading.

Principal Stock media impact

Far too much social signal, news, headlines, and media speculation about Principal Financial that are available to investors today. That information is available publicly through Principal media outlets and privately through word of mouth or via Principal internal channels. However, regardless of the origin, that massive amount of Principal data is challenging to quantify into actionable patterns, especially for investors that are not very sophisticated with ever-evolving tools and techniques used in the investment management field.
A primary focus of Principal Financial news analysis is to determine if its current price reflects all relevant headlines and social signals impacting the current market conditions. A news analyst typically looks at the history of Principal Financial relative headlines and hype rather than examining external drivers such as technical or fundamental data. It is believed that price action tends to repeat itself due to investors' collective, patterned thinking related to Principal Financial's headlines and news coverage data. This data is often completely overlooked or insufficiently analyzed for actionable insights to drive Principal Financial alpha.

Principal Financial Sentiment by Major News Outlets

Investor sentiment, mood or attitude towards Principal Financial can have a significant impact on its stock price or the market as a whole. This sentiment can be positive or negative, and various factors, such as economic indicators, news events, or market trends, can influence it. When investor sentiment is positive, investors are more likely to buy stocks, increasing demand and increasing the stock price. Positive investor sentiment can be driven by good news about the company or the broader market, such as solid earnings reports or positive economic data.
Note that negative investor sentiment can cause investors to sell stocks, leading to a decrease in demand and a drop in the stock price. Negative sentiment can be driven by factors such as poor earnings reports, negative news about the company or industry, or broader economic concerns. It's important to note that investor sentiment is just one of many factors that can affect stock prices. Other factors, such as company performance, industry trends, and global economic conditions, can also play a significant role in determining the value of a stock.

Principal Financial Historical Investor Sentiment

Investor biases related to Principal Financial's public news can be used to forecast risks associated with an investment in Principal. The trend in average sentiment can be used to explain how an investor holding Principal can time the market purely based on public headlines and social activities around Principal Financial Group. Please note that most equities that are difficult to arbitrage are affected by market sentiment the most.
Principal Financial's market sentiment shows the aggregated news analyzed to detect positive and negative mentions from the text and comments. The data is normalized to provide daily scores for Principal Financial and other traded tickers. The bigger the bubble, the more accurate the estimated score. Higher bars for a given day show more participation in the average Principal Financial news discussions. The higher the estimate score, the more favorable the investor's outlook on Principal Financial.

Principal Financial Maximum Pain Price Across April 17th 2025 Option Contracts

Principal Financial's options can also be used to analyze investors' bias and current market sentiment in the context of behavioral finance. For example, Max pain usually refers to a trading concept that asserts that market manipulation can cause the market price of Principal Financial close to the expiration of its current option contract to expire worthlessly. According to most research, about 35% of options are not executed, with roughly 50% traded out before expiration. So, Max pain occurs when market makers reach a net favorable position across all options at a strike price where option holders stand to lose the most money. By contrast, option sellers may reap the most after selling more options than buying, causing them to expire worthlessly. Please continue to view the detailed analysis of Principal Financial's options.

Principal Financial Corporate Management

Nathan SchelhaasSenior SegmentProfile
Joel PitzSenior ControllerProfile
JD CFAChief ManagementProfile
Christopher PayneSenior RelationsProfile
Ellen ShumwaySenior ManagementProfile
When determining whether Principal Financial is a strong investment it is important to analyze Principal Financial's competitive position within its industry, examining market share, product or service uniqueness, and competitive advantages. Beyond financials and market position, potential investors should also consider broader economic conditions, industry trends, and any regulatory or geopolitical factors that may impact Principal Financial's future performance. For an informed investment choice regarding Principal Stock, refer to the following important reports:
Check out Your Equity Center to better understand how to build diversified portfolios, which includes a position in Principal Financial Group. Also, note that the market value of any company could be closely tied with the direction of predictive economic indicators such as signals in census.
You can also try the Equity Search module to search for actively traded equities including funds and ETFs from over 30 global markets.
Is Life & Health Insurance space expected to grow? Or is there an opportunity to expand the business' product line in the future? Factors like these will boost the valuation of Principal Financial. If investors know Principal will grow in the future, the company's valuation will be higher. The financial industry is built on trying to define current growth potential and future valuation accurately. All the valuation information about Principal Financial listed above have to be considered, but the key to understanding future value is determining which factors weigh more heavily than others.
Quarterly Earnings Growth
(0.06)
Dividend Share
2.79
Earnings Share
(0.74)
Revenue Per Share
59.953
Quarterly Revenue Growth
(0.34)
The market value of Principal Financial is measured differently than its book value, which is the value of Principal that is recorded on the company's balance sheet. Investors also form their own opinion of Principal Financial's value that differs from its market value or its book value, called intrinsic value, which is Principal Financial's true underlying value. Investors use various methods to calculate intrinsic value and buy a stock when its market value falls below its intrinsic value. Because Principal Financial's market value can be influenced by many factors that don't directly affect Principal Financial's underlying business (such as a pandemic or basic market pessimism), market value can vary widely from intrinsic value.
In summary, please note that there is a difference between Principal Financial's value and its price, as these two are different measures arrived at by various means. Investors typically determine if Principal Financial is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, Principal Financial's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.