Redwood Investment Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Equitable Holdings, Inc. $EQH

Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 49,974 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,193,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,136,305,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Equitable by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,861 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Equitable by 23.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the fourth quarter worth about $550,995,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Equitable in the second quarter valued at about $399,576,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:EQH opened at $49.99 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. The company has a market capitalization of $13.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09. Equitable Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $55.15. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.51.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 511.35% and a negative net margin of 8.72%.Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -36.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 7,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.54, for a total value of $386,550.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,357 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,770,759.78. This trade represents a 17.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Bertram L. Scott sold 2,470 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.08, for a total transaction of $101,467.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 27,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,147,405.48. This trade represents a 8.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 114,541 shares of company stock valued at $5,357,784 over the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $66.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equitable from $62.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $64.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.75.

About Equitable

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.