Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH is Algebris UK Ltd.'s 3rd Largest Position

Key Points

• Algebris UK Ltd. increased its stake in Equitable Holdings by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, making EQH its third-largest position. The fund now owns 1,293,939 shares valued at about $61.7 million.
• Equitable reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.62 versus analyst estimates of $1.60 and revenue of $4.23 billion versus $3.95 billion expected. However, revenue still declined 7.6% from a year earlier.
• The company has also approved a $1 billion share repurchase program, while analysts remain mostly constructive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.18.

Algebris UK Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) by 81.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,293,939 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 581,479 shares during the quarter. Equitable makes up 2.9% of Algebris UK Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Algebris UK Ltd. owned about 0.45% of Equitable worth $61,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 49.5% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company's stock worth $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Equitable by 0.3% in the third quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,867,643 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,179,000 after purchasing an additional 12,370 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in 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 during the period. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 1.3% in the third quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 4,297,008 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,202,000 after purchasing an additional 55,798 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in Equitable by 2.0% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,637,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $184,704,000 after purchasing an additional 72,267 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total transaction of $310,104.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares of the company's stock, valued at $658,694.88. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total transaction of $609,353.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. This trade represents a 15.31% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Equitable Trading Up 2.9%

Shares of EQH stock opened at $42.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. 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 Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $56.61. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $39.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. Equitable's revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.11 EPS for the current year.

Equitable declared that its board has approved 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 management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $63.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.18.

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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