Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Announces $0.24 Quarterly Dividend

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, November 18th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th will be paid a dividend of 0.24 per share on Tuesday, December 3rd. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 26th.

Equitable has increased its dividend payment by an average of 9.2% per year over the last three years. Equitable has a dividend payout ratio of 13.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equitable to earn $7.17 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.96 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 13.4%.

Equitable Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $47.12. 2,156,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,498,557. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $43.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $28.02 and a fifty-two week high of $50.51. The firm has a market cap of $14.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -43.12 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equitable will post 6.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total value of $316,834.98. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,002,342.38. This represents a 5.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,239,842. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 100,166 shares of company stock worth $4,286,705 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Equitable from $41.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Equitable from $44.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.70.

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.