Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) issued its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 233.93% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Equitable Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:EQH traded down $0.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.91. The company had a trading volume of 1,253,579 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,667,448. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.42, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. Equitable has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $53.00 to $51.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on shares of Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.00.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares in the company, valued at $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQH. Bank of Montreal Can raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7,955.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,585,000 after purchasing an additional 2,394,721 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 337.4% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,502,360 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,158,890 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,861 shares during the last quarter. Man Group plc boosted its position in Equitable by 122.8% during the 2nd quarter. Man Group plc now owns 1,768,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,223,000 after purchasing an additional 974,827 shares during the period. Finally, HG Vora Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,624,000. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.