Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Equitable from $77.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Wall Street Zen cut Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Barclays set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $62.54.

Equitable Stock Down 1.6%

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $45.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $13.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $46.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.68. Equitable has a 1 year low of $41.39 and a 1 year high of $56.61.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -39.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.20, for a total value of $1,834,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 652,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,166,059. This represents a 5.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares in the company, valued at $4,762,998.70. The trade was a 23.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 203,770 shares of company stock valued at $9,462,206. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 592.6% in the second quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equitable during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Hilltop National Bank acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.