Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Upgrades Equitable (NYSE:EQH) to Outperform

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Free Report) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $58.00 price objective on the stock, up from their prior price objective of $54.00.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on EQH. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.10.

Equitable Trading Down 1.0 %

Equitable stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $46.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,979,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,489,150. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $45.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.69. Equitable has a twelve month low of $31.76 and a twelve month high of $50.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.65 billion, a PE ratio of -43.35 and a beta of 1.38.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.78 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Equitable will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable's payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.78, for a total value of $1,223,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 668,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,263,672.90. This trade represents a 4.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 3,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.42, for a total transaction of $148,470.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 19,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $819,596.82. This represents a 15.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 100,166 shares of company stock worth $4,443,605. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Equitable by 61.5% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Equitable by 892.9% in the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,112 shares of the company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Equitable by 86.3% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company's stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in Equitable by 623.5% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company's stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company's stock.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.