Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Reaches New 52-Week High Following Dividend Announcement

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $55.50 and last traded at $55.09, with a volume of 339722 shares. The stock had previously closed at $53.74.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Equitable in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $70.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Equitable from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.92.

Equitable Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $50.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $45.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a current ratio of 0.07.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a return on equity of 85.70% and a net margin of 10.51%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equitable Holdings, Inc. will post 7.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 17,677 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $825,162.36. The trade was a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $1,419,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 639,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,275,514.09. This represents a 4.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 125,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,165,071 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 19,032,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,752,000 after buying an additional 79,999 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter worth $668,250,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 12,976,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,418,000 after buying an additional 338,205 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,817,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $415,899,000 after buying an additional 3,303,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,089,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,560,000 after buying an additional 355,078 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

About Equitable

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.