AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.01 EPS

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 31st. The asset manager reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.83 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $887.55 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $907.67 million. AllianceBernstein had a net margin of 6.60% and a return on equity of 25.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.76 EPS.

AllianceBernstein Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of AB stock opened at $36.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.79. AllianceBernstein has a 12-month low of $34.92 and a 12-month high of $44.11. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $36.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.49.

AllianceBernstein Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 12th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.0%. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.04%.

Insider Activity at AllianceBernstein

In other news, Director Charles Stonehill sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.17, for a total transaction of $185,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 24,573 shares in the company, valued at approximately $913,378.41. This represents a 16.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AB. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in AllianceBernstein by 51.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 916,574 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $35,114,000 after buying an additional 312,878 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in AllianceBernstein by 43.5% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 27,375 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 8,304 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 2nd quarter worth about $210,000. Curi Capital LLC bought a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 2nd quarter valued at about $309,000. Finally, HRT Financial LP lifted its holdings in AllianceBernstein by 438.1% during the 2nd quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 108,143 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $4,415,000 after buying an additional 88,045 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 19.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore set a $39.00 target price on shares of AllianceBernstein in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings cut AllianceBernstein from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Zacks Research raised AllianceBernstein from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of AllianceBernstein in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on AllianceBernstein from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a global investment management firm that offers a broad range of research-driven strategies across equities, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternative investments. The firm provides active and quantitative portfolio management, drawing on in-house research capabilities to serve the needs of institutional clients, private wealth investors and intermediaries. Its product lineup encompasses mutual funds, separately managed accounts and customized investment vehicles designed to meet diverse risk-return objectives.

The firm’s roots date back to 1967 with the founding of Sanford C.