S&P upgrades Prudential

Standard & Poor's said it raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on Prudential Financial Inc. to A from A- and raised its short-term counterparty credit rating to A-1 from A-2. The agency also affirmed the AA- counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Prudential Insurance Co. of America, Pruco Life Insurance Co., Pruco Life Insurance Co. of New Jersey, American Skandia Life Assurance Corp., Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Co. Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (Prudential of Japan) and Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (Gibraltar Life), collectively referred to as Prudential.

The outlook on all these companies is stable.

The upgrade of Prudential reflects the continued emergence of the cash flow strength and diversification from its operating companies, the agency said.

The ratings reflect the company's modest adjusted financial leverage (at 17%), improved level and diversification of cash flows, very strong GAAP fixed-charge coverage in excess of 20x, strong and stable life insurance operations in Japan and reasonable operating leverage.

Offsetting these strengths is a relatively short history of sustained GAAP earnings at the company's current level and ongoing regulatory restrictions on dividends from Gibraltar Life, S&P said.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.