AllianceBernstein (AB) to Release Earnings on Thursday

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.70 per share for the quarter. Persons that wish to register for the company's earnings conference call can do so using this link.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $857.85 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 6.36%. The firm's revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect AllianceBernstein to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $4 EPS for the next fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AB stock remained flat at $32.45 during trading on Thursday. The company had a trading volume of 148,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 342,668. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $33.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 billion, a PE ratio of 13.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 1.25. AllianceBernstein has a 12-month low of $25.83 and a 12-month high of $36.97.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein's previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.49%. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is presently 132.19%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AB. Cowa LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 130.8% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 926,832 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $33,885,000 after purchasing an additional 525,176 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 98.0% in the first quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 501,095 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $23,561,000 after purchasing an additional 248,055 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 1,183,665 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $40,683,000 after purchasing an additional 246,609 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 6.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,607,636 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $48,792,000 after purchasing an additional 98,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on AB. TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded AllianceBernstein from a "c" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.44.

AllianceBernstein Company 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.