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The Weekly Buzzing Stocks by Billy KawasakiPrudential Financial IncPRUTOP PICKMar 23, 2023

Prudential Financial, Inc., a financial wellness leader and premier active global investment manager with more than $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2020, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential's diverse and talented employees help to make lives better by creating financial opportunity for more people. Prudential's iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. Social media mentions are up 200% in the past 24h.

The Weekly Buzzing Stocks by Billy Kawasaki

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$77.66

Stock price when the opinion was issued

$106.25

As of Jun 18, 2026. Market Open.

insurance

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PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Apr 14/23, Down 29%)

An Asian pure-play in insurance. The overall Asian market was down last year. They achieved all their growth goals in the past year, though. They will benefit from long-term secular trends in Asia. He expects good penetration rates in China where the middle is growing, so PRU is well-positioned. Today, he heard that Sun-Life is taking a trip to China to learn about that market.

HOLD

Pays a 5% dividend and was upgraded today, and yet it's up only 3% this year.

DON'T BUY

Is shying away from all financials for now, until the banking crisis ends. This looks compelling though. This could go lower.

DON'T BUY

Pays a big yield, but the stock could still go down. Even the best insurer, Chubb, is seeing weaker shares. Avoid the insurers.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Feb 25/21, Up 25%) Will benefit from rising rates. De-risking assets. Good technical chart. Outperforming the S&P. Only 0.7x price to book. Yield is 4.3%.

TOP PICK

Financials destined to outperform in next 12-24 months. Global, diversified. Second largest lifeco in US. Interest rates moving higher helps. Trades at just over half of book value, a huge discount to peers. Dividend looks solid and will probably grow over time. Yield is 5.09%. (Analysts’ price target is $85.53)

DON'T BUY

A lifeco in America that deals in seg funds. They have a stronger share in cancer insurance in Japan. With interest rates so low, the present value of the benefits they have promised to pay policyholders have risen in value. So, it makes no sense to own any insurers until long-term rates rise. PRU has a strong capital position, so it's better than its peers, but it isn't immune.

PAST TOP PICK

(A Top Pick Nov 08/18, Up 4%) They spun off the asset management business in the UK that was a 3.7B pound deal. Typically, you see what happens with the spin out and sell it if you like it. There is some upside. Their Hong Kong headquarters is growing very strongly. US operations are growing well too. With Brexit and Hong Kong issues resolved, the business could grow even more.

COMMENT

US Lifeco vs Financials PRU-N is at risk to interest rates on their premiums collected as he thinks yields will remain neutral. He is not keen on BAC-N either at this point for the same views of the yield curve. Things can't get any better for each right now -- a no man's land right now. He sees a bit better bid for Lifecos, but mostly from a defensive position. There are more compelling areas than these two spaces.

DON'T BUY

Metlife vs. Prudential vs. US banks Both are high quality and international. Strong. He doesn't love lifecos now, because there's a lot going on in health, such as the prevalance of diabetes. He wants to see higher interest rates which can benefit lifecos. As for banks, he'd stay away. The rates and yield curve have flattened. Met are doing the right thing, like a nice dividend and a big share buybacks. It isn't expensive and doing 10% earnings growth, but there are greener pastures elsewhere.

BUY ON WEAKNESS

Typically it is around $100 and is around $90 at present so a good a time to buy. Bond yields are low and the asset management business has seen fee compression. People are living longer and so there has been some mispricing on life insurance contracts. It has been a though business for a couple of years. It pays a dividend. It will probably get double digit returns this year. He would buy it down here.

DON'T BUY

He would avoid life insurance in general because rising interest rates raise the present value of their liabilities.

COMMENT

BAC vs. PRUDENTIAL If both benefit from wider rates, the spreads will widen for U.S. banks, which have been
pulling back. BAC has A 10% market share in the U.S. which is as big as the entire Canadian banking system. BAC has lot of exposure to the plain mortgage side where spreads should expand. Be patient and you'll see earnings and dividends. U.S. lifecos should benefit, too, but so will Canadian ones like MFC-T (which is a good entry point now). He prefers American banks over their lifecos.

DON'T BUY

BAC-N vs. PRU-N. He leans more toward the banks. You are taking on yield curve and interest rate risk with the banks, however. BAC-N is his preference.

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