Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.04 EPS

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The financial services provider reported $3.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04), Briefing.com reports. Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.54% and a net margin of 3.76%. The firm had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU opened at $112.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $40.32 billion, a PE ratio of 19.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.16. Prudential Financial has a fifty-two week low of $77.22 and a fifty-two week high of $118.69.

Prudential Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.30 dividend. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.25. Prudential Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 88.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of Prudential Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total transaction of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,504.87. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares in the company, valued at $883,805.86. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrew F. Sullivan sold 7,685 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.57, for a total value of $857,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 13,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,527,504.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 29,255 shares of company stock valued at $3,215,664 over the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on PRU shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $118.00 price target (down from $119.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Prudential Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $111.42.

About Prudential Financial

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 Life, and International Businesses segments.