Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Stock Has Average Target Price of $63.09

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a positive outlook: Equitable has a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 14 analysts, with an average 12-month price target of $63.09 versus its recent $52.88 share price.
• Quarterly earnings exceeded expectations: The company reported $1.70 in EPS, beating estimates by $0.05, although revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion.
• Equitable continues paying dividends: It declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30, equal to $1.20 annually and a 2.3% yield; institutional investors own 92.7% of the company.

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $63.09.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $65.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equitable from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on Equitable from $52.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock opened at $52.88 on Friday. Equitable has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $55.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The company has a market capitalization of $14.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $51.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.04.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable's payout ratio is presently -36.25%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arlene Isaacs-Lowe sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.83, for a total value of $52,830.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,763 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,044,079.29. This represents a 4.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. The trade was a 11.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Equitable in the second quarter worth $1,136,305,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in Equitable during the second quarter valued at about $399,576,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Equitable by 6.3% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,784,986 shares of the company's stock valued at $385,485,000 after buying an additional 523,638 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth about $244,052,000. Finally, Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equitable by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company's stock worth $232,996,000 after buying an additional 22,087 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.