Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.12 EPS

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Equitable Stock Up 4.7 %

Equitable stock traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $38.63. 5,261,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,637,498. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.66 billion, a PE ratio of 11.01 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.82. Equitable has a 52 week low of $21.89 and a 52 week high of $39.08.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total value of $1,942,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 619,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,063,457.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Equitable news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $170,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 29,758 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,012,367.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.38, for a total transaction of $1,942,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 619,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,063,457.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,907 shares of company stock valued at $8,338,649. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Equitable from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.67.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.