Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts give Equitable an overall "Moderate Buy" consensus from 13 firms (2 sell, 9 buy, 2 strong buy) with an average 1‑year price target of $56.91, and Raymond James recently upgraded to a strong‑buy with a $58 target.
• The board authorized a $1.0 billion share repurchase program (up to ~7.7% of shares) and the company pays a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share (about a 2.6% yield), signaling management support for the stock.
• Risks include negative earnings (negative P/E), high reported leverage (debt‑to‑equity ~16.4), technical weakness (50‑day below 200‑day moving average), and recent insider selling (128,116 shares over the last three months).

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $56.9091.

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on EQH shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 target price on Equitable in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $41.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. Equitable has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $39.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.72.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total transaction of $1,834,140.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,166,059. This trade represents a 5.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $400,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,973,688.72. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,386,439 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Equitable by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company's stock worth $822,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,861 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter valued at about $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Equitable News

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James upgraded EQH from "market perform" to "strong-buy" with a $58 price target (implying ~39% upside from current levels), which is a clear bullish catalyst for investors. Raymond James Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Management and counterpart Corebridge have discussed potential share buybacks ahead of the pending Corebridge–Equitable transaction; buyback talk typically supports the share price by reducing float and signaling confidence in valuation. Buybacks & Merger Discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed (all executed under pre-arranged Rule 10b5‑1 plans): COO Jeffrey Hurd sold 14,358 shares (~$40.58 avg), Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares (~$40.44 avg), and CEO Mark Pearson sold 1,387 shares (~$40.03 avg). Because these were planned 10b5‑1 trades the market impact is muted, but such filings can still raise short-term selling pressure. Filing links: Hurd SEC Filing Lane SEC Filing Pearson SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Technical and fundamental headwinds: the 50‑day moving average (~$40.06) sits below the 200‑day (~$44.79) and key metrics show negative earnings (negative P/E) and high reported leverage; these factors can limit upside and contribute to continued selling pressure despite positive headlines.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc NYSE: EQH is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.

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