Prudential (PRU) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

Prudential (PRU) closed at $86.29 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.43% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.04% loss on the day. Elsewhere, the Dow lost 0.22%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.93%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the financial services company had gained 6.75% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 3.77% and the S&P 500's gain of 4.22% in that time.

Prudential will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, Prudential is projected to report earnings of $3.15 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 81.03%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $12.69 billion, down 7.89% from the year-ago period.

PRU's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.93 per share and revenue of $53.64 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +26.11% and -13.05%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Prudential. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.11% lower within the past month. Prudential is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Investors should also note Prudential's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 7.26. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 8.66, which means Prudential is trading at a discount to the group.

Also, we should mention that PRU has a PEG ratio of 0.74. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Insurance - Multi line industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.15 as of yesterday's close.

The Insurance - Multi line industry is part of the Finance sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 73, which puts it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.

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Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU): Free Stock Analysis Report

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