Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Mizuho Analyst Says

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price objective boosted by Mizuho from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s target price indicates a potential upside of 43.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on EQH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Equitable from $57.00 to $56.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of Equitable and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore set a $63.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.09.

Equitable Trading Down 0.6%

EQH stock opened at $42.61 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75. The firm has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.49 and its 200-day moving average is $44.02.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The business’s revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total transaction of $582,647.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 84,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 64.1% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Equitable by 124.7% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Equitable in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Equitable by 92.6% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.