Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Makes New $713,000 Investment in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. $AB

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. has acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. by purchasing 18,600 shares valued at approximately $713,000.
• AllianceBernstein's recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $0.76, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.77.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.76 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.04 with a yield of 7.6%.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 18,600 shares of the asset manager's stock, valued at approximately $713,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AB. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $202,000. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $536,000. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 212,081 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $7,866,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth approximately $243,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company's stock.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:AB traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $39.73. The company had a trading volume of 103,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 474,317. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $40.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.81. AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. has a one year low of $32.28 and a one year high of $43.30.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $844.43 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $853.64 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 18.63% and a net margin of 8.35%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 4th were paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.7%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 4th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 90.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AB has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $42.25 to $40.00 in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a "mixed" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.67.

AllianceBernstein Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.