Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Hits New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on the stock from $41.00 to $43.00. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has a market perform rating on the stock. Equitable traded as high as $39.63 and last traded at $39.51, with a volume of 100878 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.16.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.30.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $2,026,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,254 shares in the company, valued at $23,748,887.58. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Equitable news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,374,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $2,026,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,748,887.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 314,380 shares of company stock worth $11,518,571 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 339,221 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,630,000 after buying an additional 163,155 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter worth approximately $536,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 71,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after buying an additional 10,284 shares during the last quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Equitable by 14.7% in the third quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC now owns 1,488,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,261,000 after purchasing an additional 190,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBOE Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 60.1% during the third quarter. CBOE Vest Financial LLC now owns 316,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,980,000 after buying an additional 118,683 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 1.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.20.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 27.24%.

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.