AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Increases Dividend to $0.96 Per Share

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of 0.96 per share by the asset manager on Thursday, March 12th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This is a 11.6% increase from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.86.

AllianceBernstein has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%per year over the last three years. AllianceBernstein has a dividend payout ratio of 97.5% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Equities analysts expect AllianceBernstein to earn $4.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.44 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 85.8%.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of AB stock opened at $42.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.87. AllianceBernstein has a 52 week low of $32.28 and a 52 week high of $44.11.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $0.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $957.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $956.45 million. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 7.09%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of AllianceBernstein

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 17,664.8% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,640,896 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $140,102,000 after buying an additional 3,620,401 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $35,114,000 after acquiring an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 1,154.2% in the third quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 336,502 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $12,861,000 after acquiring an additional 309,673 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 1,243.9% during the fourth quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 218,727 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $8,417,000 after purchasing an additional 202,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HRT Financial LP increased its position in shares of AllianceBernstein by 438.1% during the second quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 108,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $4,415,000 after purchasing an additional 88,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.