Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02, FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 11.83% and a positive return on equity of 140.87%.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of EQH traded down $0.68 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $41.50. 4,229,660 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,605,921. Equitable has a 1-year low of $35.19 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.68 billion, a PE ratio of -8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.10.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -22.41%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $66.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research cut shares of Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Equitable from $65.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.04, for a total transaction of $574,894.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 89,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,579,696.12. The trade was a 13.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total transaction of $1,652,711.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 789,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,853,688.29. This trade represents a 4.79% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 128,116 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,010. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares in the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at about $73,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Equitable by 1,350.0% during the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 7.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.