BMO Capital Markets Initiates Coverage on Equitable (NYSE:EQH)

BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) in a research note released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock.

EQH has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.67.

Equitable Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of EQH stock opened at $53.04 on Thursday. Equitable has a 1-year low of $31.76 and a 1-year high of $53.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.12 and a quick ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $16.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.66 and a beta of 1.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $48.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $44.50.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.15 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -88.07%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.65, for a total transaction of $364,296.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 92,209 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,039,221.85. This represents a 6.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 629,939 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 161,698 shares of company stock valued at $7,904,806 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 195.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 61.5% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in shares of Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Equitable by 298.3% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,689 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 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.