{"data":{"id":"sw_d0ff9d587dbb6768d501","slug":"equitable-holdings-series-c-preferred-trades-at-38-discount-as-common-nears-52-w","title":"Equitable Holdings' Series C Preferred Trades at 38% Discount as Common Nears 52-Week High","subheadline":"EQH'C's gap to par stands among the widest in the insurance-preferred group even as Equitable Holdings' common stock trades close to its yearly peak.","summary":"Equitable Holdings' 4.3% Series C preferred shares last changed hands at $15.48, a 38.08% discount to $25 par, versus a 23.9% average among comparable insurance preferreds, while the common stock sits near its 52-week high.","body":"Equitable Holdings' 4.3% Series C non-cumulative perpetual preferred shares, traded under symbols including EQH-PR-C and EQH'C, closed at $15.48 on October 16, 2026, a 38.08% discount to the security's $25 liquidation preference. That gap is notably wider than the 23.9% average discount across a group of 34 comparable preferred issues with a current yield, a divergence that first stood out in data tracked on Preferred Stock AI, a Madison Labs research site.\n\nThe security carries a fixed annual dividend of $1.0750 per share, paid quarterly on March 15, June 15, September 15 and December 15. At the current market price, that dividend produces a running yield of 6.94%, above the group average noted in the same comparison set. The shares became callable on March 15, 2026, and remain callable now, meaning there is no yield-to-call figure to calculate since redemption is already at the issuer's discretion rather than fixed to a future date. Each depositary share represents a 1/1,000th interest in a share of the underlying $1.00 par value preferred stock, which was originally issued in January 2021 in a $25-per-depositary-share offering of 12 million shares. According to the original SEC prospectus, net proceeds were earmarked to help retire outstanding indebtedness, including a portion of the company's 3.90% senior notes due 2023.\n\nThe discount matters for income-focused investors because it shapes the mathematical relationship between the price paid today and the two possible outcomes for a perpetual, non-cumulative preferred: continued dividend collection at the stated coupon, or redemption at the full $25 par value if the issuer chooses to call the shares. Because the dividend is non-cumulative, any payment the company elected to skip would not have to be made up later, a structural feature distinct from cumulative preferred issues. The 52-week range for EQH'C spans $15.00 to $18.36, placing the recent price near the lower end of that band even as Equitable Holdings' common stock, EQH, closed at $53.21, down 0.51% on the day, within range of its 52-week high of $55.23 and well above its 52-week low of $35.20.\n\nThat split performance, a preferred near multi-year lows in price terms while the common trades near its highs, sits alongside a run of company-specific news. Benzinga published the full transcript of Equitable Holdings' second-quarter 2026 earnings call on October 8. Zacks Investment Research included Equitable Holdings among dividend-paying stocks highlighted the same day. Simply Wall St reported on October 5 that investors were reacting to news of the departure of the company's asset management head, and Yahoo Finance reported on October 6 that Octane had closed a $1.4 billion forward-flow financing deal involving New York Life, MetLife Investment Management, Equitable, Pacific Life and Victory Park Capital.\n\nEquitable Holdings traces its roots to 1859 and today operates across retirement, asset management and wealth management through three units: Equitable, the insurance business offering retirement, income and protection products; AllianceBernstein, a global active asset manager; and Equitable Advisors, its wealth management and advisory platform. The company reported roughly $1.1 trillion in assets under management and administration as of year-end 2025, an integrated model spanning product manufacturing, asset management and distribution.\n\nThe pricing divergence unfolded against a broader market backdrop of heightened volatility elsewhere on the same trading day, with semiconductor and technology names including Palo Alto Networks, Palantir Technologies, Advanced Micro Devices and Oracle each down between roughly 4.6% and 7.6%, and bitcoin trading near $82,046. Those moves are unrelated to Equitable Holdings' capital structure or insurance operations and are noted here only as context for the session in which the preferred and common quotes were recorded.\n\nGoing forward, holders and prospective buyers of EQH'C are likely to watch whether Equitable Holdings exercises its now-standing call option, how the next quarterly dividend declaration compares with the prior $0.26875 per share ex-dividend payment recorded on June 4, 2026, and whether the discount to par narrows or widens relative to the broader insurance preferred group as the company works through the asset management leadership transition reported by Simply Wall St. No party has issued a public price target or redemption timetable for the security in the material reviewed for this report.","source":{"name":"Preferred Stock AI","slug":"preferredstock-ai"},"category":"Preferred Stocks","article_type":"Data Story","license":"Free to republish, in full or in part, with attribution to Capital Data Wire and a link to the original article. No fees, registration, or permission required.","quality_score":85,"human_reviewed":false,"original_url":"https://preferredstock.ai/symbol/EQH-P-C","featured_image":null,"published_at":"2026-10-18T11:24:06.935273+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-18T11:24:06.935273+00:00","is_demo":false,"attribution":"Via Capital Data Wire. Discovered via Preferred Stock AI.","attribution_html":"Via Capital Data Wire. Discovered via Preferred Stock AI."},"meta":{"demo_data":false}}