Wells Fargo Upgrades Prudential Financial (PRU) to Outperform; Benefits from Broad Business Mix

Wells Fargo upgrades Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) from Market Perform to Outperform. Raises valuation range to $58-64 from $47-51 per share.

Wells analyst says, "We believe the company is emerging from the financial crisis better capitalized and with a higher degree of financial flexibility than many of its peers. All told, we see Prudential in a superior competitive position relative to its peers and better able to exploit emerging merger and acquisition opportunities...With the financial crisis moving into focus in the rearview mirror, Prudential appears to have weathered the storm rather well, in our view. The company bolstered capital earlier in the year through equity, debt and surplus note offerings but did not resort to business sales, fire-sales of invested assets, or government aid. On the margin only a few non-core activities were curtailed...As a result Prudential looks much as it did prior to the financial crisis, in our opinion; with a business mix oriented toward higher returning segments such as international life insurance, group insurance, and asset management. Beyond this, the company is well-capitalized both in the US with a risk based-capital ratio above 400% and in Japan with a solvency ratio of more than 900%. Ratings migration is already factored into PRU’s statutory capital planning."

To see all the upgrades/downgrades on shares of PRU, visit our Analyst Ratings page.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (Prudential Financial) is a financial services company. The Company has operations in United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

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