Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $1.35

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 5th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 4.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from Prudential Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.30.

Prudential Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 4.2% annually over the last three years. Prudential Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 34.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Prudential Financial to earn $14.44 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 Down 3.4 %

Prudential Financial stock traded down $4.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $113.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,049,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,714. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $120.38 and its 200 day moving average is $120.46. Prudential Financial has a 52-week low of $102.67 and a 52-week high of $130.55. The company has a market cap of $40.55 billion, a PE ratio of 10.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.14 and a quick ratio of 0.14.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The financial services provider reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.36 by ($0.40). Prudential Financial had a net margin of 6.03% and a return on equity of 15.30%. On average, analysts anticipate that Prudential Financial will post 13.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Prudential Financial

In other Prudential Financial news, major shareholder Insurance Co Of Ame Prudential bought 537,249 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.92 per share, with a total value of $14,999,992.08. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 4,780,293 shares in the company, valued at $133,465,780.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on PRU. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Prudential Financial from $149.00 to $152.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Prudential Financial from $135.00 to $129.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Prudential Financial from $127.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $128.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Prudential Financial presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.77.

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.