Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.05 EPS

Key Points

• Equitable beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting EPS of $1.70 versus the $1.65 analyst consensus, a $0.05 upside surprise.
• The company declared a $0.30 quarterly dividend, equivalent to $1.20 annually and a 2.5% yield; shares traded near $48.26 following the results.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $60.08, while insiders sold about $5.84 million of stock over the past 90 days.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05, FiscalAI reports. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $48.26. The stock had a trading volume of 3,823,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,756,896. Equitable has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $55.24. The firm has a market cap of $13.17 billion, a PE ratio of -16.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $45.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is -42.25%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Equitable from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total transaction of $647,689.38. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 74,748 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. The trade was a 16.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $310,104.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $658,694.88. This trade represents a 32.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 128,503 shares of company stock valued at $5,840,116 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth approximately $73,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,350.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company's stock.

About Equitable

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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