Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Short Interest Up 19.4% in March

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 8,019,332 shares, a growth of 19.4% from the February 26th total of 6,717,404 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,356,320 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 2.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Equitable

In other news, insider Nick Lane sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total value of $1,429,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 99,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,762,998.70. This represents a 23.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 6,790 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.65, for a total transaction of $323,543.50. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 55,023 shares in the company, valued at $2,621,845.95. The trade was a 10.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 76,490 shares of company stock valued at $3,587,184 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equitable

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Equitable during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Equitable during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Equitable Trading Up 4.0%

NYSE EQH traded up $1.41 on Tuesday, hitting $37.06. 7,122,959 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,975,650. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.42, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a current ratio of 0.13. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $41.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.90.

Equitable Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 4th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 4th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -22.41%.

Equitable declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 11th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 7.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Equitable from $60.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equitable from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Zacks Research downgraded Equitable from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Weiss Ratings cut Equitable from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.55.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc (NYSE: EQH) is a leading provider of life insurance, annuities and retirement plan services in the United States. Through its insurance subsidiary, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, the firm offers a broad range of permanent and term life insurance products designed to help individuals and families manage risk and build wealth. In addition, Equitable provides fixed, variable and indexed annuity solutions to support income planning in retirement, as well as a suite of group retirement and pension plan services for employers and plan sponsors.

The company also maintains an asset management arm that delivers investment strategies across equities, fixed income and alternative asset classes for both retail and institutional clients.