AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE:AB) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $42.40.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on AllianceBernstein from $39.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of AllianceBernstein from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

AllianceBernstein Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of AllianceBernstein stock opened at $36.18 on Thursday. AllianceBernstein has a 12 month low of $30.57 and a 12 month high of $41.37. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.26 and a 200 day moving average of $36.10. The firm has a market cap of $4.17 billion, a PE ratio of 9.72, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.21.

AllianceBernstein (NYSE:AB) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The asset manager reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.18. AllianceBernstein had a return on equity of 17.77% and a net margin of 9.46%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that AllianceBernstein will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AllianceBernstein Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $1.05 per share. This represents a $4.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 18th. This is a boost from AllianceBernstein’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. AllianceBernstein’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.80%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AllianceBernstein

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new position in AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in AllianceBernstein in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Luken Investment Analytics LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AllianceBernstein in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in AllianceBernstein during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 19.25% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. is a publicly owned investment manager. The firm is a related adviser The firm manages separate client focused portfolios for its clients. The firm primarily invests in common and preferred stocks, warrants and convertible securities, government and corporate fxed-income securities, commodities, currencies, real estate-related assets and infation-protected securities.