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Equitable Holdings (EQH) Cheers Investors With 11% Dividend Hike

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Equitable Holdings, Inc.’s (EQH - Free Report) board of directors recently approved an increase in its quarterly dividend payout. EQH will now pay out 20 cents per share, reflecting a hike of 11% from the prior dividend.

The new dividend will be paid out on Jun 6, 2022, to its shareholders of record as of May 30, 2022. Based on the increased rate, the annual dividend comes to 80 cents per share. The dividend yield, based on the new payout and its May 19 closing price, is 2.9% higher than the industry average of 2.5%.

Equitable Holdings also announced a $328.13 per share quarterly dividend on Series A Preferred Stock, a $618.75 semi-annual dividend on Series B Preferred Stock and a $268.75 quarterly dividend on Series C Preferred Stock.

Regarding its financial position, EQH exited the first quarter with total investments, and cash and cash equivalents of $104,489 million, while short-term and long-term debt was only $4,044 million. Also, Equitable Holdings has a robust cash-generating ability. It is likely to generate $1.6 billion cash in 2022. This aids EQH’s capital-deployment initiatives. In the first quarter, EQH paid out $70 million of cash dividends and repurchased $279 million worth of shares.

Equitable Holdings is expected to deliver a much better performance in 2022, which will support its shareholder-value boosting efforts. Investors interested in this stock can take a look at its growth opportunities. Acquisitions and partnerships form one of the main growth strategies of EQH. Earlier this year, management announced that it agreed to acquire the alternative investment management firm CarVal Investors L.P. through its subsidiary AllianceBernsteinHolding L.P. (AB - Free Report) .

The acquisition is likely to close in the June quarter of this year, following which CarVal will become an AllianceBernstein subsidiary. The move is in line with Equitable Holdings’ strategy to boost the differentiated business model and long-term growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its 2022 bottom line is pegged at $6.28 per share. The same for 2023 implies a 16% jump from the year-ago reported figure. EQH’s earnings beat estimates thrice in the last four quarters and met the mark once, the average surprise being 18.2%.

Equitable Holdings, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Equitable Holdings, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Equitable Holdings, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Equitable Holdings, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Equitable Holdings currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Finance space are Gladstone Capital Corporation (GLAD - Free Report) and Alerus Financial Corporation (ALRS - Free Report) , each presently carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Gladstone Capital operates as a business development company and works with small and medium-sized companies. Based in McLean, VA, GLAD’s bottom line for the current year is expected to rise 17.7% from the year-ago reported figure to 93 cents per share. GLAD’s earnings beat estimates twice, met the mark once and missed the same on one occasion in the last four quarters, the average surprise being 13.8%.

Alerus Financial delivers financial products and services to businesses and consumers. Based in Grand Forks, ND, ALRS’ bottom line for 2022 has witnessed three upward revisions and no movement in the opposite direction in the past 30 days. ALRS’ earnings beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 26.8%.

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