Kendall Capital Management Makes New $4.25 Million Investment in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Key Points

• Kendall Capital Management initiated a $4.25 million position in Equitable Holdings during the second quarter by purchasing 96,775 shares. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 92.7% of the company.
• Equitable reported quarterly EPS of $1.70, exceeding estimates of $1.65, but revenue fell 29.8% year over year to $1.66 billion. The company maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, yielding approximately 2.5%.
• Analysts hold a generally positive view, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $61.75 versus the stock’s recent price of $48.84. Meanwhile, insiders sold 114,541 shares worth about $5.36 million over the past 90 days.

Kendall Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 96,775 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,246,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of EQH. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company's stock valued at $130,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company's stock worth $143,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Equitable by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company's stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in Equitable by 1.5% in the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 19,109 shares of the company's stock worth $708,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional lifted its holdings in Equitable by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,282 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable Stock Performance

Equitable stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.19 and a fifty-two week high of $55.15. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $47.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $13.34 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. The company's revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -36.25%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,570,181.62. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.11, for a total value of $647,689.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 74,748 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,371,882.28. This represents a 16.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 a total of 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Equitable 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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