Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.35 on March 13th

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, February 4th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of 1.35 per share by the financial services provider on Thursday, March 13th. This represents a $5.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is an increase from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30.

Prudential Financial has raised its dividend payment by an average of 4.2% per year over the last three years. Prudential Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 35.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Prudential Financial to earn $15.27 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.4%.

Prudential Financial Price Performance

PRU stock opened at $111.54 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $117.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $119.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $39.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.31. Prudential Financial has a 52-week low of $104.44 and a 52-week high of $130.55.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a return on equity of 15.86% and a net margin of 4.01%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 14.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential purchased 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,465,780.56. This represents a 12.66 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PRU has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Prudential Financial in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $101.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on Prudential Financial from $129.00 to $125.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.46.

Prudential Financial Company Profile

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.