Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equitable (NYSE:EQH) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on EQH. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Equitable from $67.00 to $61.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Equitable to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Equitable from $64.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Equitable from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $64.18.

Equitable Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $44.57 on Friday. Equitable has a one year low of $41.39 and a one year high of $56.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The company has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.15 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $49.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.86.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.11). Equitable had a positive return on equity of 107.71% and a negative net margin of 5.80%.The company had revenue of $1.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.17, for a total transaction of $1,912,349.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 689,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,191,056.80. This represents a 5.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Robin M. Raju sold 36,888 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, September 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.00, for a total transaction of $1,991,952.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 140,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,573,932. This represents a 20.82% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 132,468 shares of company stock valued at $6,888,905 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Advent International L.P. acquired a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,893,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Equitable by 24.8% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,129,330 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,347,000 after purchasing an additional 224,244 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 15,011 shares of the company’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC grew its position in Equitable by 184.8% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 122,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,236,000 after purchasing an additional 79,687 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Equitable by 22.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 544,089 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,629,000 after purchasing an additional 99,454 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.