AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) have received an average rating of “Buy” from the four analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.44.

Several research firms recently weighed in on AB. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TheStreet raised AllianceBernstein from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in AB. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein during the third quarter worth $4,328,000. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth $909,000. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,244,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of AllianceBernstein by 12.5% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 28,401 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth about $105,000. 19.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Price Performance

AllianceBernstein stock opened at $33.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.65. AllianceBernstein has a 1-year low of $25.83 and a 1-year high of $35.84.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The asset manager reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.14. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 14.88% and a net margin of 6.36%. The company had revenue of $1.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $857.85 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is currently 132.19%.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.