AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from eight research firms, with a target price averaging $40.33.
• Shares are currently trading at $39.28, having reported $0.86 earnings per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations.
• The company recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.86 per share, representing an annual yield of 8.8%.

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.3333.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target 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 report on Monday, September 8th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $42.00 to $40.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "negative" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $73,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the third quarter worth approximately $115,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AB opened at $39.28 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.82. AllianceBernstein has a 52-week low of $32.28 and a 52-week high of $43.30. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.55.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The asset manager reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $884.67 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $900.69 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The business's revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.86 per share. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein's previous quarterly dividend of $0.76. This represents a $3.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 3rd. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 90.21%.

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.

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