Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Barclays

Barclays began coverage on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $59.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on EQH. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $46.64.

Equitable Stock Down 2.3 %

Equitable stock opened at $39.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.87 billion, a PE ratio of 12.25 and a beta of 1.42. Equitable has a 12 month low of $24.65 and a 12 month high of $44.50. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $39.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.40 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a return on equity of 87.49% and a net margin of 7.87%. The business’s revenue was up 47.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.17 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 6th. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.20, for a total value of $1,266,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 678,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,635,021. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total value of $429,564.21. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 111,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 49,938 shares of company stock valued at $2,090,536. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in Equitable during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 1,421.4% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 1,592 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 261.3% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,641 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.