Yahoo Finance Principal Financial (PFG) Could Be a Great Choice
All investors love getting big returns from their portfolio, whether it's through stocks, bonds, ETFs, or other types of securities. But when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.
While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends account for significant portions of long-term returns, with dividend contributions exceeding one-third of total returns in many cases.
Principal Financial in Focus
Headquartered in Des Moines, Principal Financial (PFG) is a Finance stock that has seen a price change of 0.9% so far this year. Currently paying a dividend of $0.69 per share, the company has a dividend yield of 3.58%. In comparison, the Financial - Investment Management industry's yield is 2.65%, while the S&P 500's yield is 1.58%.
Taking a look at the company's dividend growth, its current annualized dividend of $2.84 is up 9.2% from last year. Principal Financial has increased its dividend 3 times on a year-over-year basis over the last 5 years for an average annual increase of 5.15%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Principal Financial's current payout ratio is 41%. This means it paid out 41% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Earnings growth looks solid for PFG for this fiscal year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 is $7.50 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 14.50%.
Bottom Line
Investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons, from tax advantages and decreasing overall portfolio risk to considerably improving stock investing profits. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.
Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, PFG is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).
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Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
