Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sets New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Equitable shares reached a new 52-week high of $55.23 and were recently trading near $54.84, above both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with an average price target of $61.82, although ratings range from Strong Buy to Sell.
• Equitable beat quarterly EPS estimates ($1.70 versus $1.65) but reported a 29.8% year-over-year revenue decline and negative net margins; it also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.30, yielding about 2.2%.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $55.23 and last traded at $54.8360, with a volume of 411002 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $54.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Equitable from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped 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. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Equitable from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.82.

Equitable Stock Up 0.8%

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.65. The firm has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a PE ratio of -16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The business's revenue was down 29.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Equitable's dividend payout ratio is -36.25%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total transaction of $794,500.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. This trade represents a 11.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO William Eckert, IV sold 947 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.88, for a total value of $50,077.36. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 8,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $445,196.72. This represents a 10.11% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in Equitable by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC boosted its position in Equitable by 91.6% during the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 205,053 shares of the company's stock worth $8,998,000 after purchasing an additional 98,023 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $376,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter valued at about $2,606,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth about $217,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

About Equitable

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.

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