Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Equitable from $58 to $61 and kept an "outperform" rating, implying roughly a 39% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst consensus sits at a Moderate Buy with an average target of $58.09 (2 Strong Buy, 9 Buy, 2 Sell), though several brokers have recently trimmed targets while maintaining buy/overweight stances.
• Equitable beat Q1 estimates with EPS $1.62 (vs. $1.60) and revenue of $4.23B despite revenue being down 7.6% YoY, the board approved a $1.0 billion share buyback (up to 7.7% of shares), and insiders have sold shares under 10b5‑1 plans.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Mizuho from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "outperform" rating on the stock. Mizuho's target price would indicate a potential upside of 39.29% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on EQH. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.09.

Equitable Price Performance

EQH opened at $43.80 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $39.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.05. Equitable has a 12-month low of $35.19 and a 12-month high of $56.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.42, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% 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, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,853,688.29. This represents a 4.79% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Equitable by 124.7% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 92.6% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

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.

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.