Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.29 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.20. 2,061,062 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,596,319. The stock has a market cap of $12.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable has a twelve month low of $21.89 and a twelve month high of $38.44. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $36.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.82.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 26th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 23rd. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is 26.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EQH shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Equitable from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $35.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total transaction of $247,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 20,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $737,631.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total value of $170,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 29,758 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,012,367.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.29, for a total value of $247,030.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 20,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $737,631.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 241,907 shares of company stock worth $8,338,649 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.