AllianceBernstein’s (AB) Hold (C) Rating Reiterated at Weiss Ratings

Weiss Ratings reiterated their hold (c) rating on shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) in a report released on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $43.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $42.25 to $40.00 in a report on Friday, June 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.50.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

NYSE AB opened at $39.56 on Friday. AllianceBernstein has a 1 year low of $32.28 and a 1 year high of $43.30. The company has a market capitalization of $4.37 billion, a PE ratio of 13.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average of $38.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.66.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.01. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 7.09% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $884.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $900.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. AllianceBernstein’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be paid a $0.86 dividend. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 3rd. This represents a $3.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.7%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,150 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575 shares during the period. Tepp RIA LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 22.3% during the 1st quarter. Tepp RIA LLC now owns 7,683 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 51.2% during the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,456 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,236 shares during the period. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Joel Isaacson & Co. LLC now owns 10,177 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares during the period. Finally, CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 1st quarter worth approximately $12,309,000. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.