Shares of Equitable Holdings rose 1.3% in Wednesday’s extended trading after the diversified financial services company announced a new stock repurchase program of $1 billion.
Equitable Holdings’ (EQH) CFO, Anders Malmström said, “The uninterrupted execution of our capital management program highlights the strength and resiliency of our balance sheet. Combined with our strong performance amidst a challenging year, we remain confident in our ability to generate sustainable cash flows and return capital to shareholders.”
Besides the share repurchase program, the company also announced a regular quarterly dividend of $0.17 per share, which will be payable on March 11 to existing shareholders as of March 4. Its annual dividend of $0.68 per share reflects a dividend yield of 2.4%.
On Feb. 11, Wells Fargo analyst Elyse Greenspan maintained a Buy rating and set a price target of $31 (11.2% upside potential). The analyst also raised her earnings estimates for 4Q and 2020.
In a note to investors, Greenspan said, “We view EQH’s relationship with AllianceBernstein as a key differentiator as it provides an efficient and less capital intensive business model, differentiated services and investment returns, and better trade execution for complex annuity hedging programs.” (See Equitable Holdings stock analysis on TipRanks)
Meanwhile, the rest of the Street has a bullish outlook on the stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 6 unanimous Buys. The average analyst price target of $32 implies upside potential of about 15% from current levels. Shares have gained around 6.9% in value over the past year.
Furthermore, EQH scores an "8 out of 10" on TipRanks' Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.
Related News:
Lakeland Industries To Buy Back Shares Worth $5M; Shares Fall 3.6%
New Residential Investment To Buy Back $200M In Stock
Analog Devices Ramps Up Dividend By 11%; Street Is Bullish
Analog Devices reported better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results driven by double-digit year-over-year growth across all business-to-business (B2B) markets.
The chipmaker’s 1Q adjusted earnings surged 40% to $1.44 per share on a year-over-year basis and beat the Street estimates of $1.32. Revenues increased 20% to $1.6 billion and surpassed the consensus mark of $1.51 billion.
Analog Devices’ (ADI) adjusted gross margin in the quarter was 70%, up 150 basis points (bps) year-over-year. The adjusted operating margin came in at 40.7%, up from 36.9% recorded in the prior-year quarter.
Analog CEO Vincent Roche commented, “ADI delivered strong first quarter results at the high end of our outlook, reflecting the diversity of our business and our alignment to the most important secular growth trends.”
“While the economic backdrop remains uncertain, we are confident that a broad-based recovery is underway given continued momentum in ADI’s bookings and lean inventories across the industry,” he added.
For the second quarter of fiscal 2021, the company projects adjusted EPS to be in a range of $1.36 to $1.52 per share, versus analysts’ expectations of $1.39. Revenue is expected to generate between $1.55 billion and $1.65 billion, versus the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. The adjusted operating margin is forecasted to range between 40.3% and 41.7%. (See Analog stock analysis on TipRanks)
Earlier this week, Analog announced an 11% hike in its quarterly dividend to $0.69 per share. The new quarterly dividend will be paid on March 9 to shareholders of record as of Feb. 26. Its annual dividend of $2.76 per share now reflects a dividend yield of 1.73%.
Following the 1Q results, Oppenheimer analyst Rick Schafer maintained a Buy rating and a price target of $175 (9.5% upside potential) on the stock. The analyst believes, “ADI operates a hybrid model” which “positions ADI better than most.”
Schafer foresees, “ADI as an emerging growth story led by 5G RAN content/share gains with expanding auto content led by BMS.”
The consensus rating among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 16 Buys and 2 Holds. The average analyst price target stands at $168.38 and implies upside potential of 5.4% to current levels. Shares have jumped about 38% over the past six months.
Additionally, Analog scores a 9 of 10 from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.
Related News:
CAE’s Quarterly Profit Lags Estimates Amid Air Travel Slump
Moody’s Posts Better-Than-Expected 4Q Revenue But Profit Disappoints
Lincoln Electric Posts Better-Than-Expected Quarterly Profit; Street Sees 5% Upside