Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Stock Price

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised its price target on Prudential Financial from $106 to $113, while keeping a market perform rating. The new target still implies a slight downside from the current share price.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious overall, with multiple firms cutting targets or ratings and MarketBeat showing an average “Reduce” rating and $104.58 average price target. Eleven analysts rate the stock Hold and five rate it Sell.
• Prudential recently reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $3.61 versus estimates of $3.09 and revenue of $15.23 billion versus $14.10 billion expected. The company also has a market cap of about $40.47 billion and shares were trading near their 52-week high.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by investment analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $106.00 to $113.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "market perform" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective points to a potential downside of 3.11% from the stock's current price.

PRU has been the subject of several other reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Argus lowered shares of Prudential Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $92.00 target price (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $104.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $104.58.

Prudential Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $116.63 on Monday. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $91.89 and a fifty-two week high of $119.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.16 and a current ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $40.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50 day moving average price is $105.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.02.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.52. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 5.83%.The company had revenue of $15.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.29 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Prudential Financial will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Prudential Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,247,371 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Prudential Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $140,530,000. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 230.3% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,374,966 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $155,206,000 after acquiring an additional 958,672 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Prudential Financial by 379.8% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 619,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $66,884,000 after acquiring an additional 490,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 37.3% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,588,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $155,156,000 after acquiring an additional 431,527 shares in the last quarter. 56.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Prudential Financial

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.

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