Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.59 and last traded at $44.49, with a volume of 486507 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on EQH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Equitable Stock Up 2.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.10 and a beta of 1.41. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.42.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Equitable had a net margin of 7.87% and a return on equity of 87.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 47.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.17 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,239,842. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 19,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $819,596.82. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $1,332,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,239,842. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 93,500 shares of company stock valued at $3,969,870. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 38,012,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,815,000 after buying an additional 446,752 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Equitable by 3.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 18,804,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $714,766,000 after purchasing an additional 637,916 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Equitable by 15.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,083,650 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,855,000 after purchasing an additional 539,904 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Equitable by 24,432.7% in the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,168,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,444,000 after purchasing an additional 3,155,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in Equitable in the second quarter valued at about $110,176,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.