AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Hits New 52-Week Low – What’s Next?

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $33.75 and last traded at $33.9050, with a volume of 52,403 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $34.90.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AB. Evercore set a $39.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $36.00 to $35.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “hold” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.50.

AllianceBernstein Stock Down 2.6%

The stock has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.44.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The asset manager reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.02. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.47% and a return on equity of 25.97%. The company had revenue of $904.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $913.82 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 19th. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.88 per share. This represents a $3.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.4%. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AB. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its stake in AllianceBernstein by 184.7% in the third quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 189,161 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $6,598,000 after acquiring an additional 122,727 shares during the period. Almitas Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,381,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,908,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $522,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of AllianceBernstein by 114.6% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 74,211 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $2,778,000 after purchasing an additional 39,636 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) is a global investment management and research firm serving institutional investors, retail clients and private-wealth customers. The company provides investment strategies and advisory services across equities, fixed income, multi-asset portfolios and alternative investments.

AllianceBernstein offers actively managed and customized portfolios, along with mutual funds, separately managed accounts, institutional mandates and other investment vehicles.