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PRU Stock Trading at a Discount to Industry at 7.47X: Time to Buy?

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Key Takeaways

  • PRU shares fell 10.1% in a year, underperforming the industry, sector, and S

Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU - Free Report) shares are trading at a discount compared to the Zacks Multi-line Insurance industry. Its forward price to forward 12-month earnings of 7.47X is lower than the industry average of 8.85X, the Finance sector’s 16.72X and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s 22.52X. The multi-line insurer has a Value Score of A.

Shares of other insurers like Horace Mann Educators Corporation (HMN - Free Report) and EverQuote, Inc. (EVER - Free Report) are trading at a multiple higher than the industry average, while shares of Hamilton Insurance Group, Ltd. (HG - Free Report) are trading at a discount to the industry average.

The insurer has a market capitalization of $37.74 billion. The average volume of shares traded in the last three months was 1.66 million.

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PRU’s Growth Projection Encourages

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Prudential Financial’s 2025 earnings per share indicates a year-over-year increase of 8.2%. The consensus estimate for revenues is pegged at $55.97 billion. The consensus estimate for 2026 earnings per share and revenues indicates a rise of 8.3% and 4.1%, respectively, from the corresponding 2025 estimates.

Bearish Analyst Sentiment on PRU

Four of the nine analysts covering the stock have lowered their estimates for 2025, while three analysts have reduced their estimates for 2026 over the past 60 days.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has moved down 0.8% in the past 60 days, while the same for 2026 has moved down 0.2% in the same time frame.

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PRU’s Price Performance

Shares of Prudential Financial have lost 10.1% in the past year, underperforming the industry, the Finance sector, and the Zacks S&P 500 Composite’s growth of 4.9%, 8.2%, and 5.1%, respectively.

PRU vs Industry, Sector & S&P 500 YTD

Zacks Investment Research Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Target Price Reflects Potential Upside

Based on short-term price targets offered by 15 analysts, the Zacks average price target is $115.87 per share. The average indicates a potential 7.7% upside from the last closing price.

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PRU’s Return on Capital

PRU’s trailing 12-month return on equity is 15.8%, ahead of the industry average of 14.8%. Return on equity, a profitability measure, reflects how effectively a company is utilizing its shareholders’ equity.

Key Points to Note for PRU

Prudential Financial is advancing its goal of becoming a global leader in providing broader access to investment, insurance, and retirement security. Demonstrating this ambition, the company completed the second-largest pension risk transfer in U.S. history with IBM last year and executed several major longevity risk transactions, strengthening its position in delivering innovative retirement solutions.

PRU pursues a range of strategic initiatives that position it well for sustained long-term growth. The company remains committed to investing in the future through programmatic acquisitions and partnerships, particularly in emerging markets, to build scale, enhance its business portfolio, and support its long-term expansion strategy.

Prudential Financial’s strong international presence positions it ahead of peers in capturing organic growth opportunities, making global expansion a key pillar of its long-term strategy. Its well-established footprint in Japan presents significant potential to tap into the growing demand for protection products and retirement solutions.

However, Prudential Financial’s debt levels have been on the rise over the past few quarters, inducing higher interest expenses, which have weakened its interest coverage. This may put pressure on the company’s financial flexibility and profitability in the near term.

Conclusion

Prudential Financial’s strategic focus on global expansion, innovative retirement solutions, and targeted investments positions the company for strong and sustained long-term growth. While rising expenses present near-term challenges, its disciplined approach, robust international presence, and continued commitment to scale through acquisitions and partnerships underscore its resilience and potential to deliver lasting value to stakeholders.

Given the bearish analysts’ sentiment, we prefer to remain cautious on this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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