Yahoo Finance Should You Buy Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) For Its Upcoming Dividend?
It looks like Principal Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:PFG) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 3 days. Typically, the ex-dividend date is one business day before the record date which is the date on which a company determines the shareholders eligible to receive a dividend. It is important to be aware of the ex-dividend date because any trade on the stock needs to have been settled on or before the record date. In other words, investors can purchase Principal Financial Group's shares before the 1st of June in order to be eligible for the dividend, which will be paid on the 24th of June.
The company's next dividend payment will be US$0.64 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$2.56 to shareholders. Looking at the last 12 months of distributions, Principal Financial Group has a trailing yield of approximately 3.5% on its current stock price of $72.94. If you buy this business for its dividend, you should have an idea of whether Principal Financial Group's dividend is reliable and sustainable. So we need to investigate whether Principal Financial Group can afford its dividend, and if the dividend could grow.
See our latest analysis for Principal Financial Group
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. That's why it's good to see Principal Financial Group paying out a modest 43% of its earnings.
Companies that pay out less in dividends than they earn in profits generally have more sustainable dividends. The lower the payout ratio, the more wiggle room the business has before it could be forced to cut the dividend.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Stocks in companies that generate sustainable earnings growth often make the best dividend prospects, as it is easier to lift the dividend when earnings are rising. If earnings decline and the company is forced to cut its dividend, investors could watch the value of their investment go up in smoke. With that in mind, we're encouraged by the steady growth at Principal Financial Group, with earnings per share up 6.4% on average over the last five years.
Many investors will assess a company's dividend performance by evaluating how much the dividend payments have changed over time. In the past 10 years, Principal Financial Group has increased its dividend at approximately 14% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.
Final Takeaway
From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Principal Financial Group? Principal Financial Group has seen its earnings per share grow slowly in recent years, and the company reinvests more than half of its profits in the business, which generally bodes well for its future prospects. Overall, Principal Financial Group looks like a promising dividend stock in this analysis, and we think it would be worth investigating further.
In light of that, while Principal Financial Group has an appealing dividend, it's worth knowing the risks involved with this stock. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Principal Financial Group you should know about.
Generally, we wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see. Here's a curated list of interesting stocks that are strong dividend payers.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
