Analyst hikes AB target

A Citigroup analyst has upgraded shares of AllianceBernstein on the heels of the company’s second-quarter earnings results, which included word that big investor Equitable Holdings will pump no less than $10 billion into the company’s lineup of alternative investments.

Equitable and its subsidiaries control about 60 percent of AB’s shares and account for some 3 percent of the company’s revenues. The company has pledged to invest its $10 billion over the next three years and let AB managers put that money to work in private illiquid investments, a business that brings with it higher fees than more traditional investments. CEO Seth Bernstein told analysts and investors last week that his team expects that seed capital will attract other investors.