AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.1667.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on AB shares. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Evercore boosted their price target on AllianceBernstein from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Barclays increased their price target on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered AllianceBernstein from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 10,849 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Fortis Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,836 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in AllianceBernstein by 0.8% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 32,841 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in AllianceBernstein by 2.2% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 13,190 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,915 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AB stock opened at $35.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.42. AllianceBernstein has a twelve month low of $32.28 and a twelve month high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $957.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.45 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.62% and a return on equity of 21.17%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th were issued a $0.96 dividend. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 20th. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.8%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.00%.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.