Ahead of the Bell: Prudential Financial's 1Q dip disappoints
NEW YORK—Prudential Financial Inc.'s first-quarter results will likely be viewed as disappointing to Wall Street after weakness across all divisions fueled a nearly 93 percent profit drop, an analyst said late Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs analyst Thomas V. Cholnoky kept a "Neutral" rating and $85 price target on the Newark, N.J., insurance and investment company after it posted its third consecutive quarterly earnings drop.
The price target implies he expects the stock to rise about 12 percent above Wednesday's $75.71 close.
"We believe Prudential's results will be viewed as very disappointing due to the earnings miss from widespread weakness across all divisions coupled with the skepticism of maintaining its guidance," Cholnoky said in a note to clients.
Wachovia Capital Markets analyst John Hall kept a "Market Perform" rating after the "particularly poor results."
"Most of the company's business segments fell short of our expectations and the investment portfolio generated a higher level of realized net investment losses than we anticipated," Hall said in a note to clients.
Lehman Brothers analyst Eric Berg said investors may also view two major accounting changes skeptically. He affirmed an "Overweight" rating on the shares.
Shares fell $1.51, or 2 percent, to $74.20 in Thursday premarket trading after closing Wednesday at $75.71.
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