Mizuho Issues Positive Forecast for Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Stock Price

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) had its price target lifted by Mizuho from $58.00 to $61.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Equitable from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $58.00 price target on Equitable and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.09.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of Equitable stock traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, reaching $43.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,061,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,694,942. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.02. The firm has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a PE ratio of -15.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable has a 52 week low of $35.19 and a 52 week high of $56.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 0.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $4.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. Equitable’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.5%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently -38.03%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In related news, insider Nick Lane sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 124,218 shares in the company, valued at $5,023,375.92. This represents a 7.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.63, for a total value of $1,652,711.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 789,183 shares in the company, valued at $32,853,688.29. The trade was a 4.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 128,116 shares of company stock worth $5,205,010 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $822,351,000 after buying an additional 1,132,861 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,449,000 after buying an additional 2,532,791 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth approximately $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,996,000 after buying an additional 22,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,812,000 after buying an additional 193,640 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently 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.