Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Sunday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, June 12th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $101.00 to $109.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Prudential Financial from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $109.31.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of PRU stock opened at $118.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.16 and a quick ratio of 0.16. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $127.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $120.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.06. The firm has a market cap of $40.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.73, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.83.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The financial services provider reported $4.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.52 by $0.56. The business had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.36 billion. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.68% and a net margin of 6.51%.During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.58 EPS. Analysts predict that Prudential Financial will post 14.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Prudential Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 25th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 25th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.7%. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 50.72%.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In related news, EVP Ann M. Kappler sold 7,652 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.01, for a total transaction of $956,576.52. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 14,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,801,019.07. This represents a 34.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential sold 214,746 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $5,314,963.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,973,657 shares in the company, valued at $197,348,010.75. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Prudential Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PRU. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,507,481,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Prudential Financial by 0.3% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 26,414 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 166,641 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in Prudential Financial by 95.3% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,556,748 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $249,769,000 after buying an additional 1,247,371 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Prudential Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $209,055,000. 56.83% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

Prudential Financial, Inc is a global financial services company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. Founded in 1875 as The Widows and Orphans Friendly Society, the company has grown from a life insurance provider into a diversified business offering insurance, retirement, investment management and related financial services.

Through its U.S. businesses, Prudential provides individual life insurance and annuities, workplace retirement plans, pension risk transfer solutions, group life and disability insurance, and other benefits and financial wellness products.