Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $102.73.

PRU has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised shares of Prudential Financial from a “market perform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Prudential Financial from $89.00 to $92.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Prudential Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Friday, September 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 16,603,253 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,464,739,000 after buying an additional 46,547 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Prudential Financial by 9.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,005,166 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $796,194,000 after acquiring an additional 700,449 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 1.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,721,677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $679,412,000 after purchasing an additional 107,893 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,589,363 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,378,000 after purchasing an additional 413,421 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,355,882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,059,000 after purchasing an additional 376,841 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.92% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PRU opened at $98.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06. The company has a market capitalization of $35.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.64 and a 200-day moving average of $87.95. Prudential Financial has a one year low of $75.37 and a one year high of $110.96.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The financial services provider reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.04 by ($0.10). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 1.82%. The company had revenue of $12.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 11.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 22nd were issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 21st. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.07%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 166.67%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through PGIM, Retirement Strategies, Group Insurance, Individual Annuities, Individual Life, Assurance IQ, and International Businesses segments.