Equitable Holdings, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.24 (NYSE:EQH)

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, November 15th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th.

Equitable has increased its dividend by an average of 9.2% per year over the last three years. Equitable has a payout ratio of 13.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Equitable to earn $7.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.4%.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE EQH opened at $47.62 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Equitable has a 52 week low of $28.86 and a 52 week high of $50.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $44.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $42.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on EQH. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.43, for a total transaction of $1,422,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 648,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,760,963.65. This trade represents a 4.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. The trade was a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 130,166 shares of company stock valued at $5,709,605. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.