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US financial services company providing retirement plans, life insurance and asset management, with a large international arm.
US financial services company providing retirement plans, life insurance and asset management, with a large international arm.
Earns fees in proportion to the retirement and investment assets it administers or manages, record-keeping charges on employer 401(k) plans, and premiums on life, disability and dental cover sold to employers. Small and mid-sized employers are its focus on the retirement side, and it became a listed company in 2001 by converting from a policyholder-owned mutual.
Moat: narrow (switching costs, scale, distribution). Employer retirement plan relationships are sticky once record-keeping and plan administration are embedded.
Headquarters: Des Moines, Iowa, US · Founded: 1879 · Employees: 19,700
Size Principal Financial (PFG) is a United States Financials company (Investment Managers) with a market value of $23.6B, the 445th largest of 3,117 United States companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at $110.91 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 10.4%, against +4.2% for the median peer and -1.1% for the United States market (cap-weighted) — 3rd highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 5.2% over the last twelve months (peer median +9.4%); the operating margin is 14.8% (peer median 34.0%).
Valuation It trades at 11.3× forward earnings against a peer median of 11.7× (10th cheapest of 21).
Credit Principal Financial has 10 bonds outstanding ($4.06B), rated A- by the agencies and trading like BBB+ at a weighted spread of 81 bp.
Short interest Short interest is 3.7% of the free float (15 Oct 2026).
Next results Next results expected around 10 Feb 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $16.6B | $15.6B | $16.1B | $13.7B | $17.5B |
| Revenue growth | — | -3% | +18% | -22% | — |
| Net income | $1.98B | $1.19B | $1.57B | $623M | $4.76B |
| Free cash flow | $5.35B | $4.44B | $4.53B | $3.69B | $3.06B |
| Capital expenditure | $183M | $98.0M | $68.8M | $102M | $116M |
| Total debt | $4.50B | $4.12B | $4.33B | $4.24B | $4.36B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Financial PFG | $23.6B | +10% | +5% | 15% | 11.3× | n/a |
| Prudential Financial PRU | $41.1B | +20% | +4% | 8% | 8.9× | n/a |
| Voya Financial VOYA | $8.91B | +21% | -3% | 9% | 9.1× | n/a |
| MetLife MET | $62.4B | +27% | +9% | 8% | 9.1× | n/a |
| Lincoln National LNC | $7.67B | +12% | +12% | 15% | 4.9× | n/a |
| Ameriprise Financial AMP | $43.5B | +8% | +9% | 28% | 10.0× | n/a |
| Corebridge Financial CRBG | $14.9B | +25% | +10% | 20% | 6.3× | n/a |
| Equitable EQH | $14.1B | +24% | +6% | 17% | 6.2× | n/a |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | PFG | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +1.0% | +2.7% | 9th lowest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +10.4% | +4.2% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -8.5% | -19.3% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +5.2% | +9.4% | 6th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 14.8% | 34.0% | 3rd lowest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 11.3× | 11.7× | 10th cheapest of 21 |
| Bond spread | 81 bp | 101 bp | 2nd tightest of 10 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Principal Financial PFG | United States | $23.6B | +10% | +5% | 15% | 11.3× | n/a | n/a |
| CSC Financial 6066.HK | Hong Kong | $23.5B | -15% | +3% | 49% | 5.5× | n/a | n/a |
| T. Rowe Price TROW | United States | $23.1B | +4% | +7% | 36% | 10.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Amundi AMUN.PA | France | $21.7B | +9% | +1% | 23% | 11.9× | n/a | n/a |
| Partners PGHN.SW | Switzerland | $21.3B | -24% | +9% | 56% | 16.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Nomura 8604.T | Japan | $26.5B | +15% | +12% | 12% | 9.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Pershing Square PS | United States | $20.6B | +24% | +67% | 37% | 84.9× | n/a | n/a |
| China Merchants Securities 6099.HK | Hong Kong | $20.2B | -10% | +98% | 34% | 4.5× | n/a | n/a |
| Ares Management ARES | United States | $30.0B | +7% | +7% | 27% | 20.5× | n/a | n/a |
| TPG TPG | United States | $17.9B | +4% | +21% | 17% | 13.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Raymond James Financial RJF | United States | $31.3B | +6% | +10% | 21% | 11.4× | n/a | n/a |
| Northern Trust NTRS | United States | $31.3B | +8% | +7% | 24% | 13.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Franklin Resources BEN | United States | $17.1B | +10% | +8% | 15% | 10.6× | n/a | n/a |
| CVC Capital Partners CVC.AS | Netherlands | $16.9B | +10% | +14% | 57% | 18.1× | n/a | n/a |
| Blue Owl Capital OWL | United States | $15.4B | -7% | +11% | 17% | 10.4× | n/a | n/a |
| ICICI Prudential Asset Management ICICIAMC.NS | India | $15.4B | -11% | +22% | 73% | 39.2× | n/a | n/a |
| DWS Group GmbH & Co. KGaA DWS.DE | Germany | $14.7B | +7% | +24% | 37% | 12.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Eqt EQT.ST | Sweden | $39.2B | +1% | -18% | 59% | 22.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Carlyle CG | United States | $14.1B | -22% | -44% | 14% | 10.2× | n/a | n/a |
| Guotai Haitong Securities 2611.HK | Hong Kong | $39.8B | -6% | +38% | 69% | 6.0× | n/a | n/a |
| Guosen Securities 002736.SZ | China | $13.9B | -16% | -10% | 34% | 7.9× | n/a | n/a |
Principal Financial has 10 bonds outstanding with $4.06B face value. The agencies rate it A-; its bonds trade like BBB+. Weighted yield 5.61%, a spread of 81 bp over government bonds.