Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,770,000 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the February 28th total of 4,600,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,960,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQH. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Equitable from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Equitable from $45.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Equitable from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equitable from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $57.75.

Equitable Stock Up 0.3 %

Equitable stock traded up $0.14 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $52.23. 2,604,674 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,550,086. Equitable has a one year low of $35.49 and a one year high of $56.00. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $53.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a market cap of $16.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.67 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.08). Equitable had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 85.70%. On average, research analysts forecast that Equitable will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 5th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Equitable’s payout ratio is 25.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 629,939 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,536,349.35. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,291,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,282,137.85. This represents a 17.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 103,332 shares of company stock worth $5,364,610. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQH. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Equitable by 195.6% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Equitable by 111.2% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Equitable by 33.2% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. boosted its holdings in Equitable by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Bank Ltd. now owns 1,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC grew its stake in shares of Equitable by 154.3% in the fourth quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 1,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.