Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU) reported Q4 EPS of $2.33, $0.31 better than the analyst estimate of $2.02.

• Fourth quarter 2019 net income attributable to Prudential Financial, Inc. of $1.128 billion or $2.76 per Common share versus $842 million or $1.99 per share for the year-ago quarter.
• Fourth quarter 2019 after-tax adjusted operating income of $950 million or $2.33 per Common share versus $1.035 billion or $2.44 per share for the year-ago quarter.
• Net income attributable to Prudential Financial, Inc. for 2019 of $4.186 billion or $10.11 per Common share versus $4.074 billion or $9.50 per share for 2018.
• After-tax adjusted operating income of $4.845 billion or $11.69 per Common share for 2019 versus $5.019 billion or $11.69 per share for 2018.
• Book value per Common share of $155.88 versus $116.34 per share for the year-ago; adjusted book value per Common share of $101.04 versus $96.06 per share for the year-ago.
• Capital returned to shareholders of $906 million in the quarter versus $752 million for the year-ago quarter, including dividends of $1.00 per Common share.
• Parent company highly liquid assets of $4.1 billion versus $5.5 billion for the year-ago.
• Assets under management amounted to $1.551 trillion versus $1.377 trillion for the year-ago.
• Today, the Company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.10 per share of Common stock, payable on March 12, 2020, to shareholders of record as of February 18, 2020, representing an increase of 10% over the prior year dividend level and a 4.4% annualized yield on adjusted book value.

Charles Lowrey, Chairman and CEO, commented on results:

“During the fourth quarter, we made significant progress against our strategy to provide financial opportunity to more people and drive greater efficiency across our operations. For the year, we returned approximately $4 billion to our shareholders and generated an adjusted operating return on equity within our 12-14% target. Looking ahead, we remain focused on enhancing our customer experience while delivering on our cost savings initiative, increasing the percentage of earnings in international growth markets, and taking actions to mitigate the effect of low interest rates, which we expect will result in future earnings growth.”

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Prudential Financial (PRU) click here.