Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $52.78 and last traded at $52.47, with a volume of 217605 shares. The stock had previously closed at $51.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $47.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.18.

Equitable Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.29. The stock has a market cap of $16.41 billion, a PE ratio of -48.08 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares in the company, valued at $30,275,514.09. This trade represents a 4.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake in Equitable by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Equitable by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,513,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $231,735,000 after purchasing an additional 161,376 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI bought a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth about $110,176,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Equitable by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,220,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,322,000 after purchasing an additional 54,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Equitable by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,165,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,000,000 after purchasing an additional 68,900 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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.