Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Coverage Initiated at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Equities researchers at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research note issued on Thursday. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 37.21% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on EQH. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $66.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Raymond James Financial set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.55.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $38.63. 833,300 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,104,720. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42. The stock has a market cap of $10.83 billion, a PE ratio of -7.97, a PEG ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12. Equitable has a 12 month low of $36.58 and a 12 month high of $56.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.51 and a 200 day moving average of $46.42.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $323,543.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,762,998.70. This trade represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Equitable during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $703,060,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Equitable by 49.5% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 11,012,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,232,000 after buying an additional 3,645,301 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7,955.4% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 2,424,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,585,000 after buying an additional 2,394,721 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 114.8% in the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,294,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,640,000 after buying an additional 2,294,902 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Equitable by 71.5% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,565,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $199,958,000 after acquiring an additional 1,486,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.