Barclays Maintains an 'Equalweight' on Principal Financial Group (PFG); 2012 EPS Guidance In Line With Consensus

Barclays maintains an 'Equalweight' on Principal Financial Group (NYSE: PFG) price target of $28.00.

Barclays analyst says, "PFG provided 2012 EPS guidance of $3.05-$3.25 versus our expectation of $2.95 and consensus of $3.16 driven by higher than projected growth in assets under management and lower than expected corporate losses. This could translate into about a 10-11% ROE in 2012, (10% ex the DAC accounting change), which is in line with the sector average, yet PFG trades at a premium to other life insurers."

"PFG expects the DAC accounting guidance to reduce 1Q12 shareholder's equity by $550-$750mn (6-8%) and operating earnings by $35-$45mn.
PFG expects to deploy $800-$900mn of total capital for shareholder dividends, share buybacks and acquisitions in 2012, in line with our outlook."

For an analyst ratings summary and ratings history on Principal Financial Group click here. For more ratings news on Principal Financial Group click here.

Shares of Principal Financial Group closed at $24.13 yesterday.

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