Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Plans Dividend Increase – $0.30 Per Share

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of 0.30 per share on Monday, June 8th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a 11.1% increase from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27.

Equitable has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 2 consecutive years. Equitable has a payout ratio of 13.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equitable to earn $8.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.3%.

Equitable Price Performance

Equitable stock opened at $42.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.95, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.13. Equitable has a 52-week low of $35.19 and a 52-week high of $56.61. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.61. 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 (NYSE:EQH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The company reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.95 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 232.29% and a negative net margin of 7.26%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Equitable will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey J. Hurd sold 14,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.44, for a total value of $609,353.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 79,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,369,863.32. This represents a 15.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 7,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.48, for a total value of $310,104.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 15,506 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $658,694.88. The trade was a 32.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 154,191 shares of company stock valued at $6,311,969. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equitable

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Equitable by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,258,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $822,351,000 after buying an additional 1,132,861 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Equitable by 23.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 13,545,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $645,449,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,791 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Equitable during the 4th quarter valued at $550,995,000. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equitable by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,889,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,996,000 after purchasing an additional 22,087 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Equitable by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,822,908 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,812,000 after purchasing an additional 193,640 shares during the last quarter. 92.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.