Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Short Interest Up 9.5% in December

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,600,000 shares, a growth of 9.5% from the November 30th total of 4,200,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.10.

Equitable Stock Down 1.0 %

EQH stock opened at $47.01 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.38. Equitable has a twelve month low of $31.76 and a twelve month high of $50.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a PE ratio of -43.13 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.53. Equitable had a negative net margin of 2.64% and a positive return on equity of 76.47%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.15 earnings per share. Equitable’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 26th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Equitable’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -88.07%.

Insider Activity at Equitable

In other Equitable news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 1,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.68, for a total value of $79,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 17,677 shares in the company, valued at $825,162.36. This represents a 8.77 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,666 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.53, for a total transaction of $316,834.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 105,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,002,342.38. This trade represents a 5.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Equitable by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 908,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,191,000 after acquiring an additional 153,457 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 7.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,117,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,001,000 after purchasing an additional 148,180 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in Equitable by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 388,430 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,326,000 after buying an additional 11,085 shares in the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA bought a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter worth $847,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in shares of Equitable by 27.1% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 44,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after buying an additional 9,563 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

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.