Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $54.62 and last traded at $54.24, with a volume of 592294 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $53.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on EQH shares. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Equitable in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Up 1.6 %

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.53 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at $32,536,349.35. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total transaction of $1,146,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. The trade was a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 161,698 shares of company stock worth $7,904,806 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equitable in the third quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Equitable by 86.3% in the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its stake in Equitable by 298.3% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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.