Dividend Stock With Analysts Upside: Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

If investors are looking for a stable dividend stock with upside, Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) could be one that fits the bill.  The stock currently provides a dividend yield of 3.89% for the Financial company.  

On a consensus basis, analysts have a Buy/Sell rating of 2.00, which is based on a 1 to 5 scale. The sell-side is projecting that it will reach $110.40 within the next 12 months.  This is a solid upside to a recent bid of $102.74.  Investors are constantly looking to find winning stocks that have been largely overlooked. With markets still riding high, this may not be the easiest thing in the world right now. Finding those perfect stocks before they become household names may take a lot of research and homework. Many investors will apply various strategies for picking stocks. If there was one that worked for everybody, it would make things super easy. Of course, this is not the case. Obviously, there are no guarantees in the stock market. Some investors may only focus on the fundamentals of a company and completely ignore the technicals. Others may choose to only watch technicals and never take a look at the underlying company information. Combining both areas of research may help give a better feel of what is going on with the stock in the long term and the short term. Individual investors who manage their own portfolios may need to put in a lot more time than those who don’t. Successful investors often have an uncanny way of filtering out the noise and keeping their focus on the right information.   

Let’s take a look at how the stock has been performing recently.  Over the past twelve months, Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)’s stock was 25.98%.  Over the last week of the month, it was -1.36%, 12.43% over the last quarter, and  7.35% for the past six months.

Over the past 50 days, Prudential Financial, Inc. stock’s -2.47% off of the high and 15.09% removed from the low.  Their 52-Week High and Low are noted here.  -5.29% (High), 35.88%, (Low). 

Fundamental analysis examines the financial elements of a company, for example; sales, cash flow, profit and balance sheet.  These numbers are then crunched to create theoretical valuations of companies. 

Earnings Per Share (EPS) is the earnings made by a company divided by their number of shares.  EPS enables the earnings of a company to easily be compared to their competitors. The higher the number, the more profit per dollar is being made on investor capital.  Prudential Financial, Inc.’s EPS for the trailing 12 months is 9.13.  Their EPS should be compared to other companies in the Financial sector.

Price-to-Earnings Ratio is the current share price divided by annual earnings per share.  P/E provides a number that details how many years of earnings it will take a stock to recoup the value of one share at current price levels.  Easy to calculate and understand, P/E is an extremely common ratio that is used to compare valuations of stocks against each other relatively.  Prudential Financial, Inc.’s  P/E ratio is 11.25. 

Technical analysts have little regard for the value of a company. They use historic price data to observe stock price patterns to predict the direction of that price going forward.  Analysts use common formulas and ratios to accomplish this.

As we close in on the end of the calendar year, investors may be trying to visualize potential trades for the New Year. There are many professionals that believe that there is still plenty of room for stocks to run even at current levels. Preparing the game plan for the next few quarters may give the investor some new ideas. Staying focused and maintaining discipline may help guide the investor to unchartered territory in the coming months. Tracking market events from multiple angles may also help provide some enhanced perspective.

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)’s RSI (Relative Strength Index) is 64.82.  RSI is a technical indicator of price momentum, comparing the size of recent gains to the size of recent losses and establishes oversold and overbought positions.

Investors are frequently on the search for the secret to creating that winning portfolio. Many individual investors would agree that information is highly important when picking stocks. Possessing the correct information about a public company is of the utmost importance. Knowing how to interpret the information is another skill investors may need to master before becoming fully immersed in the stock market. Taking the time to properly examine a company before purchasing shares may be the difference between healthy profits and disappointing losses. If a company looks good after the research is complete, patience may still be desirable. Often times, a good stock will continue to be good in the future. Dealing with market volatility is normal, but exploring all aspects of a company may be a good way to combat day to day volatility.