Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.12, Briefing.com reports. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year.

Equitable Price Performance

NYSE:EQH opened at $38.85 on Thursday. Equitable has a one year low of $21.89 and a one year high of $39.08. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 4th. Investors of record on Monday, February 26th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 23rd. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently 27.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on EQH. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total value of $2,026,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 703,254 shares in the company, valued at $23,748,887.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Charles G.T. Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.02, for a total transaction of $170,100.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 29,758 shares in the company, valued at $1,012,367.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.77, for a total transaction of $2,026,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 703,254 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,748,887.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 181,907 shares of company stock valued at $6,395,849 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% 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.