Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Short Interest Update

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,600,000 shares, an increase of 9.5% from the November 30th total of 4,200,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Equitable Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EQH opened at $47.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 0.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $47.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $43.45. Equitable has a 52-week low of $31.76 and a 52-week high of $50.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.27 and a beta of 1.39.

Equitable (NYSE:EQH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.78 billion. Equitable had a positive return on equity of 76.47% and a negative net margin of 2.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equitable will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Equitable Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 26th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 26th. Equitable’s payout ratio is currently -88.07%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Pearson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $1,332,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 658,555 shares in the company, valued at $29,239,842. This represents a 4.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nick Lane sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.84, for a total value of $1,146,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 141,629 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,492,273.36. The trade was a 15.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 130,032 shares of company stock valued at $6,031,759 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equitable

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Equitable by 61.5% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the third quarter worth about $48,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Equitable by 86.3% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares during the period. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Equitable by 623.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Equitable in the second quarter worth $109,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Equitable from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Equitable from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Equitable from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $58.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.10.

Equitable Company Profile

Equitable Holdings, Inc, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, operates as a diversified financial services company worldwide. The company operates through six segments: Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Investment Management and Research, Protection Solutions, Wealth Management, and Legacy.