Prudential Financial, Inc.’s (NYSE:PRU) first-quarter 2017 operating income of $2.79 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 5.7%. Earnings also improved about 28% year over year.
Including the impact of one-time items, net income was $3.09 per share, up 5.5% year over year.
Total revenue grew 6.3% year over year to $12 billion due to 3.5% growth in premiums, 2.9% increase in policy charges and fee income, 11.2% increase in net investment income, and 11.5 % rise in asset management fees, commissions and other income.
Total benefits and expenses of $10.3 billion increased 3.8% year over year in the quarter. The rise in expenses is mainly attributable to higher insurance and annuity benefits, interest credited to policyholders’ account balances, deferral of acquisition costs, amortization of acquisition costs and general and administrative expenses.
Quarterly Segment Update
U.S. Retirement Solutions and Investment Management reported adjusted operating income of $1.1 billion, up 49% year over year. The upside was driven by higher contribution from Individual Annuities, Retirement, and Asset Management businesses.
U.S. Individual Life and Group Insurance reported adjusted operating income of $152 million, up 4.1% from the prior-year quarter. Higher contribution from Group Insurance drove the upside.
International Insurance reported adjusted operating income of $799 million, up 2.6% year over year. The improvement was due to higher contribution from Gibraltar Life and Other operations.
Corporate and Other Operations reported adjusted operating loss of $352 million, wider than a loss of $312 million in the year-ago quarter.
As of Mar 31, 2017, Prudential Financial’s assets under management increased 2.8% to $1.299 trillion from $1.264 trillion as of Dec 31, 2016. Adjusted book value, a measure of the company’s net worth, increased 7% to $80.77 per share as of Mar 31, 2017, from $75.46 per share as of Dec 31, 2016.
Zacks Rank
Currently, Prudential Financial holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Performance of Other Multi-Line Insurers
Among other multi line insurers that have reported first-quarter earnings so far, the bottom line at Assurant, Inc. (NYSE:AIZ) and CNO Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE:CNO) beat their respective Zacks Consensus Estimate, while The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG) missed the same.
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Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU): Free Stock Analysis Report
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