Principal Financial (PFG) Q1 Earnings Beat, Revenues Up Y/Y

Principal Financial Group, Inc.’s PFG first-quarter 2017 operating net income of $1.27 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a dime. The bottom line also improved 31% year over year.
 

The company’s investment performance remained strong. Moreover, the company expanded its solution set alongside strengthening relationships with customers and distributors in the quarter. The company also displayed a balanced approach to capital management.

Including net realized capital losses of 8 cents, net income available to common stockholders was $1.19 per share, down 4.8% year over year.

Behind the Headlines

Operating revenues inched up 1% year over year to $3.1 billion.

Total expenses rose 1.5% year over year to $2.6 billion. This was primarily due to the increase in operating expenses.

Principal Financial’s Asset Under Management (AUM) as of Mar 31, 2076 was a record $620 billion. The metric increased 4.8% from Dec 31, 2016.

As of Mar 31, 2017, book value per share (excluding AOCI other than foreign currency translation adjustment) was $34.85, up 2.2% year over year.

Principal Financial Group Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

 

Principal Financial Group Inc Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise | Principal Financial Group Inc Quote

Segment Update

Retirement and Income Solution: Revenues were up approximately 1.3% year over year to about $1.5 billion.

Operating earnings increased 35% year over year to $244.2 million.

Principal Global Investors: Revenues of $345.9 million climbed nearly 12% from the prior-year quarter.

Operating earnings rose 25% year over year to $100 million owing to higher operating revenues and improved margins.

Principal International: Revenues increased 12% year over year to $321.3 million in the quarter.

Operating earnings surged 48% year over year to $100.9 million.

US Insurance Solution: Revenues increased 7.4% year over year to $956.4 million.

Operating earnings of $86.2 million were up 7.1% year over year.

Corporate: Revenues of $1.5 million compared favorably with ($13.1) million in the year-ago quarter.

Operating loss of $58.5 million was narrower than a loss of $53.3 million in the year-earlier quarter.

Dividend and Share Repurchase Update

The company paid $130 million in dividends and deployed $118 million to buy back 1.9 million shares in the first quarter. Total capital utilized was $248 million.

The board of directors Principal Financial announced a dividend of 46 cents per share for second quarter. The dividend will be paid on Jun 30.

Principal Financial targets 2017 capital deployment of $800 million to $1.1 billion.

Zacks Rank

Principal Financial presently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Stocks

Among the other players from the finance sector that have reported their first-quarter earnings so far, Chubb Limited CB beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate but RLI Corp. RLI and The Progressive Corporation PGR missed expectations.

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