Prudential Financial, Inc. PRU continues to reshape its international business by planning to sell its stake in Alexander Forbes Group Holdings (“Alexforbes”) for about $185 million.
PRU’s indirect subsidiary, New Veld, LLC, will sell approximately 446.9 million Alexforbes shares in two transactions. Alexforbes will repurchase around 372.8 million shares, while ARC AF Holdings will acquire the remaining 74.1 million shares. The transactions are expected to close in the first half of 2027, subject to required approvals.
The deal is part of PRU’s strategy, announced in August, to narrow its geographic footprint and concentrate capital, talent and management attention on businesses where it sees stronger long-term opportunities.
For PRU, the transaction should reduce exposure to an emerging-market investment while providing additional capital that can be redeployed toward its core businesses. Given the size of the transaction relative to PRU’s overall operations, the impact on near-term earnings is likely to be limited, while the strategic benefit could be more significant.
PRU had $4.2 billion of highly liquid parent-company assets and $1.64 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, providing substantial scale for capital deployment. The key question is how the company will allocate the proceeds and whether it will pursue additional emerging-market exits.
Overall, the transaction highlights management’s focus on streamlining business mix and concentrating on its core insurance, retirement and investment-management operations.
How Are Competitors Faring?
Equitable Holdings, Inc. EQH is also reshaping its portfolio to focus on businesses where it sees stronger growth and scale opportunities. The company is merging with Corebridge Financial to create a larger platform across retirement, life insurance, wealth management and asset management. EQH is also exiting its Employee Benefits business, which generated around $500 million in premiums, citing a lack of scale.
Allianz SE ALIZY has similarly been adjusting its portfolio through the divestment of its stakes in Bajaj General Insurance and Bajaj Life Insurance in India. While India remains strategically important to Allianz, the company said the divestment allows it to consider redeploying proceeds toward strategic priorities.
PRU’s Price Performance
Shares of PRU have increased 15.1% compared with the industry’s growth of 6.1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PRU’s Valuation
From a valuation standpoint, PRU trades at a price-to-book ratio of 1.29X, lower than the industry average of 2.76X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
PRU’s Estimates
The consensus estimate for PRU’s 2026 and 2027 EPS indicates a year-over-year increase.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 and 2027 earnings moved 2.3% and 0.9% north, respectively, in the last 30 days.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The consensus estimate for PRU’s 2026 and 2027 revenues indicates a year-over-year increase.
PRU currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Beyond Nvidia: AI's Second Wave Is Here
The AI revolution has already minted millionaires. But the stocks everyone knows about aren't likely to keep delivering the biggest profits. AI’s second wave is moving from infrastructure to implementation and these companies are at the forefront of this transition, positioned to become what Amazon and Google were to the internet era.
See Stocks Now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
Prudential Financial, Inc. (PRU): Free Stock Analysis Report
Equitable Holdings, Inc. (EQH): Free Stock Analysis Report
Allianz SE (ALIZY): Free Stock Analysis Report
This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).