AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Reaches New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $34.80 and last traded at $34.8950, with a volume of 388723 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $35.51.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on AB. Weiss Ratings downgraded AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Evercore set a $39.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research raised shares of AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, AllianceBernstein has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.21. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of 10.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.79.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01). AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 25.94% and a net margin of 6.60%.The firm had revenue of $887.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $907.67 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.4%. This is a drop from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. AllianceBernstein’s payout ratio is 97.04%.

Insider Transactions at AllianceBernstein

In other AllianceBernstein news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of AllianceBernstein stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,378.41. The trade was a 16.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AB. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Fifth Third Bancorp acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB) is a global investment management company that provides investment products, research and related services to institutional investors, financial advisers, individual investors and private-wealth clients. Its offerings span equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, alternatives and other portfolio solutions.

The company serves clients through institutional and retail channels, including pension plans, governments, foundations, insurance companies, financial intermediaries and high-net-worth individuals.