Principal Financial (PFG) Q4 Earnings Beat, Revenues Miss
Principal Financial Group, Inc.’s PFG fourth-quarter 2020 operating net income of $1.48 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 3.5% and grew 4.9% year over year.
However, Principal Financial witnessed lower revenues across most of its business lines, which were offset by lower expenses and higher assets under management (AUM).
Principal Financial Group, Inc. Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Principal Financial Group, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Principal Financial Group, Inc. Quote
Full-Year Highlights
For 2020, Principal Financial reported operating net income of $4.94 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 1.2%. However, it decreased 11.5% year over year.
Total operating revenues of $14.7 billion beat the consensus mark by 1.4%. However, it decreased 9.1% year over year.
Behind the Headlines
Operating revenues decreased 12.2% year over year to nearly $3.6 billion. The downside was due to lower fees and other revenues and premiums and other considerations. The top line missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 4.7%.
Total expenses decreased 13.7% year over year to $3.2 billion due to lower operating expenses and benefits, claims and settlement expenses.
Principal Financial’s AUM as of Dec 31, 2020 was a record $806.6 billion, up 9.7% year over year.
Segment Update
Retirement and Income Solution: Revenues decreased 21.1% year over year to about $1.8 billion.
Pre-tax operating earnings increased 28.6% to $266.8 million on account of improved performance at Retirement and Income Solution-Spread business.
Principal Global Investors: Revenues of $412.6 million were down 5.7% from the prior-year quarter.
Operating earnings increased 5% year over year to $151.9 million primarily due to growth in management fees and disciplined expense management.
Principal International: Revenues decreased 9.8% year over year to $294.6 million in the quarter.
Operating earnings decreased 23% to $59.6 million due to lower combined net revenue.
U.S. Insurance Solution: Revenues grew 4.2% year over year to $1.1 billion.
Operating earnings of $89.5 million decreased 38.1% year over year due to poor performance at Individual Life Insurance and Specialty Benefits Insurance business.
Corporate: Operating loss of $81.6 million was narrower than $95.7 million loss incurred a year ago. This narrower loss was due to expense management actions.
Financial Update
As of Dec 31, 2020, cash and cash equivalents were $2.8 billion, up 13.3% year over year.
At fourth-quarter end, debt was $4.3 billion, up 14.6%.
As of Dec 31, 2020, book value per share (excluding AOCI other than foreign currency translation adjustment) was $47.07, up 6.4% year over year.
Capital Deployment
Principal Financial paid out $153.7 million in dividends and bought back shares worth $75million in the fourth quarter.
The board of directors approved fourth-quarter dividend of 56 cents per share, up 2% year over year.
Zacks Rank
Principal Financial currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Investment Managers
Fourth-quarter earnings of SEI Investments Co. SEIC, Ameriprise Financial AMP and Blackstone Group Inc. BX beat the respective Zacks Consensus Estimate.
The Hottest Tech Mega-Trend of All
Last year, it generated $24 billion in global revenues. By 2020, it's predicted to blast through the roof to $77.6 billion. Famed investor Mark Cuban says it will produce "the world's first trillionaires," but that should still leave plenty of money for regular investors who make the right trades early.
See Zacks' 3 Best Stocks to Play This Trend >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (AMP) : Free Stock Analysis Report
Principal Financial Group, Inc. (PFG) : Free Stock Analysis Report
SEI Investments Company (SEIC) : Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
