Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the sixteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and eleven have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $104.5833.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on PRU shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Argus cut Prudential Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings raised Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 17,234,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,381,000 after acquiring an additional 210,959 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,533,806 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,904,000 after acquiring an additional 26,414 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,649,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,562,000 after purchasing an additional 420,081 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,758,545 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,089,000 after purchasing an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Prudential Financial by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,701,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,214,000 after purchasing an additional 62,366 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

PRU stock opened at $114.97 on Thursday. Prudential Financial has a 1-year low of $91.89 and a 1-year high of $119.76. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $106.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.04. The company has a market capitalization of $39.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.83, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Prudential Financial will post 13.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 26th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.