Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Rating Lowered to Peer Perform at Wolfe Research

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

EQH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equitable from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equitable from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Equitable from $58.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Evercore set a $63.00 price objective on Equitable and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Equitable from $63.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.92.

Equitable Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:EQH opened at $46.98 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.54, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.75, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. Equitable has a 1 year low of $35.19 and a 1 year high of $55.24. The business has a fifty day moving average of $43.29 and a 200-day moving average of $42.96.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a negative net margin of 7.26% and a positive return on equity of 232.29%. The company’s revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.35 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Equitable news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 39,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.28, for a total value of $1,797,616.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 765,903 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,680,087.84. This represents a 4.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 4,417 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.45, for a total value of $187,501.65. Following the sale, the insider owned 124,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,273,054.10. This trade represents a 3.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 154,248 shares of company stock valued at $6,608,358 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQH. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equitable in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Equitable by 64.1% during the 1st quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 888 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 347 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Equitable by 124.7% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 728 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 404 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in Equitable during the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Essential Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 245.2% in the first quarter. Essential Partners LLC now owns 1,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the period. 92.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equitable News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Equitable this week:

• Positive Sentiment: UBS Group raised its price target on Equitable Holdings (EQH) to $68.00, signaling meaningful upside confidence. Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Price Target Raised to $68.00 at UBS Group
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo increased its target to $60.00 from $57.00 and kept an overweight rating, reinforcing a constructive outlook for EQH. Equitable had its price target raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $57.00 to $60.00
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its target to $62.00 from $61.00 and maintained an outperform rating, adding to the bullish analyst momentum. Equitable had its price target raised by Mizuho from $61.00 to $62.00
• Positive Sentiment: Barclays kept a Buy rating on Equitable Holdings, which supports investor sentiment even without a target change. Barclays Keeps Their Buy Rating on Equitable Holdings (EQH)
• Neutral Sentiment: Equitable’s institutional holdings update is informational and does not by itself signal a clear near-term catalyst for the stock. Equitable Holdings, Inc. Common Stock (EQH) Institutional Holdings
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgraded Equitable Holdings to Peer Perform from outperform, which tempers the otherwise positive analyst tone. Equitable (NYSE:EQH) Downgraded to Peer Perform Rating by Wolfe Research

About Equitable

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.