Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.24

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, July 29th, Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th will be given a dividend of 0.24 per share on Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 6th.

Equitable has increased its dividend by an average of 9.2% annually over the last three years. Equitable has a dividend payout ratio of 13.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Equitable to earn $7.09 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 13.5%.

Equitable Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:EQH traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $42.90. 1,585,273 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,638,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.11 and a 200 day moving average of $37.57. Equitable has a twelve month low of $24.65 and a twelve month high of $43.53.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Equitable will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EQH. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Equitable from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Equitable from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Equitable from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Equitable from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Equitable from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $43.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Equitable news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 9,969 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.09, for a total transaction of $429,564.21. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 111,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,806,775.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Seth P. Bernstein sold 152,473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.06, for a total value of $5,803,122.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 88,660 shares in the company, valued at $3,374,399.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 172,411 shares of company stock valued at $6,627,658. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.