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

Key Points

• Equitable Holdings has a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy” from 13 brokerage firms, with an average 12-month price target of about $58.18.
• The company beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $1.62 EPS versus $1.60 expected and $4.23 billion in revenue versus $3.95 billion expected, even as revenue declined 7.6% year over year.
• Equitable’s board authorized a $1 billion stock buyback, while insiders recently sold shares and institutional investors hold about 92.7% of the stock.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $58.1818.

EQH has been the topic of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Equitable from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This trade represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total value of $574,894.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares in the company, valued at $3,579,696.12. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Equitable stock opened at $40.63 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.87. Equitable has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $56.61. The company has a market capitalization of $11.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.11 and a quick ratio of 0.11.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.14 EPS for the current year.

Equitable declared that its board has authorized a stock 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 reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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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