Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) to Issue $1.30 Quarterly Dividend

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of 1.30 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, June 13th. This represents a $5.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%.

Prudential Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.4% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Prudential Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 35.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Prudential Financial to earn $14.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 36.0%.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE PRU traded up $0.97 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $116.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,403,174 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,516,410. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. Prudential Financial has a 12 month low of $77.87 and a 12 month high of $118.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.35.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.16 by ($0.04). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.50% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.50 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.66 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 69.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on PRU. TheStreet upgraded Prudential Financial from a “c+” rating to an “a-” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $100.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $112.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Prudential Financial from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $115.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $111.08.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,595,350.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, SVP Robert Axel sold 6,436 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.86, for a total value of $719,930.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,805.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Timothy L. Schmidt sold 7,912 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.13, for a total value of $855,524.56. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,754 shares in the company, valued at $1,595,350.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,255 shares of company stock worth $3,215,664 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.