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Prudential (PRU) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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In the latest trading session, Prudential (PRU - Free Report) closed at $97.42, marking a +1.82% move from the previous day. This move outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 1.06%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 1.05%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.4%.

Heading into today, shares of the financial services company had lost 9.52% over the past month, outpacing the Finance sector's loss of 9.62% and lagging the S&P 500's loss of 8.3% in that time.

Prudential will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $2.67, down 29.55% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $12.65 billion, down 3.48% from the prior-year quarter.

PRU's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $11.74 per share and revenue of $52.43 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of -19.48% and -13.66%, respectively.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Prudential. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. 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. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.34% higher 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 8.15. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 9.46.

Investors should also note that PRU has a PEG ratio of 0.91 right now. 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 was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.08 at yesterday's closing price.

The Insurance - Multi line industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 163, putting it in the bottom 36% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


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