Fifth Third Bancorp Boosts Holdings in Prudential Financial, Inc. $PRU

Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) by 239.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 115,414 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,425 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in Prudential Financial were worth $11,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Prudential Financial by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $436,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Prudential Financial by 30.5% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,976,000 after acquiring an additional 4,134 shares during the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 3.5% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $447,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 25.8% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 56,700 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,092,000 after purchasing an additional 11,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Prudential Financial by 15.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 37,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,005,000 after purchasing an additional 4,895 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.83% of the company’s stock.

Prudential Financial Stock Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial stock opened at $114.97 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $39.89 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.85. Prudential Financial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $91.89 and a 52 week high of $119.76.

Prudential Financial (NYSE:PRU) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The financial services provider reported $3.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.52. The firm had revenue of $15.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.10 billion. Prudential Financial had a net margin of 5.83% and a return on equity of 16.33%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Prudential Financial, Inc. will post 13.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Prudential Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 26th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 26th. Prudential Financial’s payout ratio is currently 57.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $92.00 price target (down from $106.00) on shares of Prudential Financial in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Prudential Financial from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Prudential Financial from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Prudential Financial from $91.00 to $87.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Prudential Financial from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $104.58.

About Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial, Inc, headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, is a diversified financial services company with roots dating to 1875. The firm provides a range of insurance, retirement and investment products aimed at helping individual and institutional clients manage risk, accumulate and protect wealth, and plan for retirement. Prudential’s long history in life insurance and related financial services has positioned it as a major participant in the U.S. insurance market and a provider of services to a broad client base.

Prudential’s core business activities include individual life insurance, annuities, retirement solutions and group insurance products for employers.