Key Points
- Equitable director Bertram Scott sold 2,470 shares on June 4 at an average price of $41.08, totaling about $101,468. The sale reduced his ownership by 8.12%, leaving him with 27,931 shares.
- The stock rose 1.6% and opened at $40.86, while the company’s latest quarter beat expectations with EPS of $1.62 versus $1.60 expected and revenue of $4.23 billion versus $3.95 billion forecast.
- Equitable boosted its quarterly dividend to $0.30 from $0.27 and has an approved $1 billion share buyback program. Analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with an average price target of $58.18.
Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) Director Bertram Scott sold 2,470 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total value of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 27,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.
Equitable Stock Up 1.6%
NYSE:EQH opened at $40.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.10. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11.
Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Equitable Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Equitable's previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently -42.25%.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable
A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Essential Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 245.2% during the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 15.8% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 889,016 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,991,000 after buying an additional 121,261 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 78.7% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 61,432 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,280,000 after buying an additional 27,052 shares during the last quarter. South Dakota Investment Council raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 18.3% during the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 377,662 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,015,000 after buying an additional 58,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 26.6% during the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after buying an additional 526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have commented on EQH shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.18.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on EQH
About Equitable
(
Get Free Report)
Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.
The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.
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