Ahead of the Bell: Prudential Financial

Analyst Eric Berg raised his rating to "Overweight" from "Underweight" and his price target to $95 from $84, implying he expects the stock to rise 17 percent over Thursday's $81.27 close.

While Prudential's stock had suffered out of fears that half of shareholders' equity was tied up in the troubled securities, a new Lehman study that examined each bond and the percentage of mortgages in each bond carrying investment-grade ratings revealed the low risk in Prudential Financial's portfolio, Berg said.

The Newark, N.J., company appears to be less risky than Ameriprise Financial Inc., MetLife Inc., Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and others, he said.

Even though this Lehman study looked at commercial mortgage-backed securities, Berg said it is likely a look into Prudential Financial's complete real estate portfolio would yield positive news.