AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.76 (NYSE:AB)

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, with the ex-dividend date set for August 4th and payment scheduled for August 14th.
• The company reported a net margin of 9.44% and earnings per share (EPS) of $0.76 for the last quarter, slightly below analysts' expectations.
• Analyst ratings have varied, with Goldman Sachs downgrading the stock to "neutral" and adjusting the price target downward, while Evercore ISI upgraded it to "outperform" with a higher price target.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, July 25th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 4th will be given a dividend of 0.76 per share by the asset manager on Thursday, August 14th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 4th.

AllianceBernstein has a payout ratio of 90.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company's earnings decline. Equities analysts expect AllianceBernstein to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 79.8%.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

AllianceBernstein stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 102,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 167,102. The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.61 and a 200-day moving average of $38.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.82. AllianceBernstein has a one year low of $30.57 and a one year high of $43.30.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 8.35% and a return on equity of 18.63%. The business had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.64 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.71 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AB. Evercore ISI increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price target on AllianceBernstein from $37.50 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.18, for a total value of $205,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $861,609.14. This represents a 19.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Daniel G. Kaye sold 4,825 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.80, for a total value of $196,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 39,877 shares in the company, valued at $1,626,981.60. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in AllianceBernstein stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) by 51.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 916,574 shares of the asset manager's stock after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.83% of AllianceBernstein worth $35,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.