AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Reaches New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• AllianceBernstein shares fell to a new 52-week low of $34.28 after TD Cowen cut its price target from $38 to $36 and maintained a Hold rating. Analysts overall have a consensus Hold rating with an average target price of $38.38.
• The company’s latest quarterly results narrowly missed expectations, with EPS of $0.82 versus $0.83 expected and revenue of $887.55 million versus $907.67 million forecast, despite 7.5% year-over-year revenue growth.
• AllianceBernstein reduced its quarterly dividend to $0.82 from $0.83, resulting in an annualized dividend of $3.28 and a high 9.6% yield; its payout ratio stands at 97.04%.

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report)'s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday after TD Cowen lowered their price target on the stock from $38.00 to $36.00. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the stock. AllianceBernstein traded as low as $34.28 and last traded at $34.3860, with a volume of 66,788 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.70.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on AB. Evercore set a $39.00 price objective on AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, AllianceBernstein presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total value of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at $913,378.41. This trade represents a 16.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,971 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $598,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Vivaldi Capital Management LP now owns 9,048 shares of the asset manager's stock worth $339,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in AllianceBernstein by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its stake in AllianceBernstein by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,500 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mallini Complete Financial Planning LLC now owns 10,979 shares of the asset manager's stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company's stock.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.76 EPS. Analysts expect that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a decrease from AllianceBernstein's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. AllianceBernstein's payout ratio is 97.04%.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. NYSE: AB is a global investment management and research firm serving institutional investors, retail clients and private-wealth customers. The company provides investment strategies and advisory services across public and private markets, including equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios, alternatives and sustainable investing.

AllianceBernstein's offerings include actively managed mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and private-market solutions.

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