Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $64.1818.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Equitable from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $43.14 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a PE ratio of -15.63 and a beta of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.76. Equitable has a twelve month low of $41.39 and a twelve month high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%. The business had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.17, for a total value of $1,912,349.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $33,191,056.80. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.28, for a total transaction of $293,871.20. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 68,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,956,370.24. The trade was a 9.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,258 shares of company stock valued at $7,182,777. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth about $703,060,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Equitable by 49.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,232,000 after purchasing an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Equitable in the 1st quarter worth approximately $108,264,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Equitable by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 10,878,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $566,662,000 after purchasing an additional 2,061,496 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $101,547,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.