Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.22

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, May 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 5th will be given a dividend of 0.22 per share on Monday, June 12th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 2nd. This is a positive change from Equitable’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.20.

Equitable has raised its dividend by an average of 10.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Equitable has a payout ratio of 12.4% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Equitable to earn $6.38 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.80 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 12.5%.

Equitable Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE EQH opened at $25.29 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.42. Equitable has a 52 week low of $21.89 and a 52 week high of $33.24. The stock has a market cap of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.44 and a beta of 1.40.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 3rd. The company reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by ($0.28). The firm had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. On average, research analysts expect that Equitable will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. TheStreet cut shares of Equitable from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $37.00 to $33.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Equitable from $30.00 to $31.00 in a report on Friday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Equitable from $33.00 to $28.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equitable has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $35.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equitable news, Director Kristi Ann Matus sold 19,297 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.34, for a total transaction of $450,391.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO William James Iv Eckert sold 8,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.38, for a total value of $205,578.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 27,062 shares in the company, valued at $686,833.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kristi Ann Matus sold 19,297 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.34, for a total transaction of $450,391.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Equitable by 2.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,143,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,240,838,000 after purchasing an additional 854,689 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.8% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 33,444,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $849,159,000 after acquiring an additional 1,223,193 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Equitable during the fourth quarter valued at $553,559,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 3.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,933,563 shares of the company’s stock valued at $252,213,000 after acquiring an additional 336,694 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Equitable by 1,734.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,952,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,535,000 after acquiring an additional 6,573,857 shares during the period. 93.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equitable Company Profile

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Equitable Holdings, Inc engages in the provision of financial services. It operates through the following segment: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, and Protection Solutions. The Individual Retirement segment includes annuity products, which primarily meet the needs of individuals saving for retirement or seeking retirement income.