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

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Prudential (PRU - Free Report) closed at $84.84 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.07% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.62% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.5%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 5.66%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the financial services company had gained 6.73% over the past month. This has outpaced the Finance sector's gain of 3.31% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.44% 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 $12.51 billion, down 9.18% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.94 per share and revenue of $53.67 billion. These totals would mark changes of +26.22% and -13.01%, respectively, from last year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Prudential. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.46% lower within the past month. Prudential is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Prudential has a Forward P/E ratio of 7.18 right now. This valuation marks a discount compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 8.66.

Meanwhile, PRU's PEG ratio is currently 0.73. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Insurance - Multi line stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.13 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Insurance - Multi line industry is part of the Finance sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 68, putting it in the top 27% 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.

To follow PRU in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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