Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $55.23 and last traded at $54.8360, with a volume of 411002 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wolfe Research cut shares of Equitable from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Equitable in a report on Thursday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Equitable from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.82.

Equitable Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.65. The company has a market cap of $14.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.45, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.65 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.84 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 8.72% and a positive return on equity of 511.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 29.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -36.25%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.54, for a total transaction of $1,927,038.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 753,403 shares in the company, valued at $36,570,181.62. The trade was a 5.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 14,923 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.24, for a total value of $794,500.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 110,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,856,772.68. This represents a 11.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 72,516 shares of company stock worth $3,658,629. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Equitable by 64.1% in the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Essential Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 245.2% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, CX Institutional raised its stake in Equitable by 30.2% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,282 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc is a financial services company that provides retirement, protection and investment management solutions to individuals, businesses and institutions. Its businesses operate primarily in the United States and serve clients through financial professionals, employer-sponsored retirement plans and institutional relationships.

Through its Equitable business, the company offers life insurance, annuities, individual retirement products and employee benefits. Its offerings are designed to help customers accumulate and protect assets, generate retirement income and address long-term financial planning needs.