Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Now Covered by Analysts at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock.

EQH has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Performance

EQH opened at $53.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.66 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $48.20 and a 200 day moving average of $44.50. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $31.76 and a fifty-two week high of $53.99.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,291,250.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $587,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 230.0% in the 2nd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 36,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 25,678 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

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.