Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.75 by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 5.80% and a positive return on equity of 107.71%.

Equitable Trading Up 0.4%

Equitable stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $44.85. The company had a trading volume of 5,025,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,928,806. The stock has a market cap of $12.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 11.87. Equitable has a 1-year low of $41.39 and a 1-year high of $56.61. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.29.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 24th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 24th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -39.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Equitable in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Equitable from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $64.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $60.00 price target on shares of Equitable in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Equitable from $62.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $62.46.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 4,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.27, for a total transaction of $203,261.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 15,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $738,593.75. This represents a 21.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,621,845.95. This trade represents a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 203,770 shares of company stock worth $9,462,206 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 92.6% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 882 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 424 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Equitable by 1,350.0% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,914 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 1,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its stake in Equitable by 11.7% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 2,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.