Short Interest in Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Expands By 26.1%

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,370,000 shares, a growth of 26.1% from the May 31st total of 4,260,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 2,610,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EQH opened at $40.82 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.42. Equitable has a fifty-two week low of $24.65 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.31 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.59 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. This is a boost from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total transaction of $361,276.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 141,062 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,112,086.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of Equitable stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total transaction of $5,803,122.38. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.24, for a total value of $361,276.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 141,062 shares in the company, valued at $5,112,086.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,411 shares of company stock valued at $7,646,571 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at about $606,630,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Equitable by 1,161.7% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,849,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,692,000 after buying an additional 7,227,568 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Equitable by 1,105.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,242,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139,814 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Equitable by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,958,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,815,000 after acquiring an additional 781,426 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 1st quarter valued at $27,237,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EQH shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Equitable from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Equitable from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut shares of Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $43.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

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.