Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $60.00

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its target price increased by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $51.00 to $60.00 in a report issued on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

EQH has been the topic of several other research reports. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Equitable presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.09.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH opened at $42.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.00 billion, a PE ratio of -15.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $39.49 and a 200-day moving average of $44.02. Equitable has a one year low of $35.19 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a current ratio of 0.08 and a quick ratio of 0.13.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 4th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -38.03%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.44, for a total value of $404,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. The trade was a 7.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.58, for a total value of $582,647.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 84,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,425,073.74. This represents a 14.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Equitable by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Equitable by 11.7% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG raised its position in shares of Equitable by 1.5% in the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 19,109 shares of the company’s stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.