AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Cut to “Hold” at TD Cowen

TD Cowen lowered shares of AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $38.50 target price on the asset manager’s stock, up from their prior target price of $38.00.

AB has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $45.00 price target on AllianceBernstein in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.75.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of AB opened at $37.46 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.24. AllianceBernstein has a twelve month low of $30.57 and a twelve month high of $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.21.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.88% and a net margin of 9.46%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a $1.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a positive change from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.21%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio is currently 112.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AllianceBernstein Company Profile

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.