Equitable (EQH) and Its Rivals Head to Head Contrast

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) is one of 341 publicly-traded companies in the “Financial Services” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Equitable to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, profitability, risk, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Equitable has a beta of 1.06, meaning that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equitable’s peers have a beta of 2.50, meaning that their average share price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Equitable and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equitable	$11.66 billion	-$1.38 billion	10.12
Equitable Competitors	$6.38 billion	$1.09 billion	10.06

Equitable has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Equitable is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current ratings and price targets for Equitable and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equitable	0	3	11	1	2.87
Equitable Competitors	1988	6946	11713	446	2.50

Equitable presently has a consensus price target of $63.33, indicating a potential upside of 20.17%. As a group, “Financial Services” companies have a potential downside of 6.28%. Given Equitable’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Equitable is more favorable than its peers.

Dividends

Equitable pays an annual dividend of $1.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.3%. Equitable pays out 23.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Financial Services” companies pay a dividend yield of 4.3% and pay out -72.2% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Equitable has raised its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Equitable lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

92.7% of Equitable shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 43.0% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 1.0% of Equitable shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 21.8% of shares of all “Financial Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Equitable and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equitable	11.53%	-3,089.96%	0.64%
Equitable Competitors	-338.89%	-39.94%	-5.83%

Summary

Equitable beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

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. The Individual Retirement segment offers a suite of variable annuity products primarily to affluent and high net worth individuals. The Group Retirement segment provides tax-deferred investment and retirement services or products to plans sponsored by educational entities, municipalities, and not-for-profit entities, as well as small and medium-sized businesses. The Investment Management and Research segment offers diversified investment management, research, and related services to various clients through institutional. The Protection Solutions segment provides life insurance products, such as VUL insurance and IUL insurance, term life, and employee benefits business, such as dental, vision, life, as well as short- and long-term disability insurance products to small and medium-sized businesses. The Wealth Management segment offers discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts, financial planning and advice, life insurance, and annuity products. The Legacy segment consists of the capital intensive fixed-rate GMxB business that includes ROP death benefits. The company was formerly known as AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Equitable Holdings, Inc. in January 2020. Equitable Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1859 and is based in New York, New York.