Insider Selling: Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Sells $212,914.80 in Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott sold 4,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total transaction of $212,914.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,827,600.56. This trade represents a 7.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $50.61 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $48.23 and its 200 day moving average is $46.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31 and a beta of 0.77. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $36.04 and a 12 month high of $51.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.67%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $54.17.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQBK. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 98.7% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 16,200 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 8.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 87,024 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,865,000 after purchasing an additional 6,707 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 74.5% during the first quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 15,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,593 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 38.1% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 17,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 4,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 48,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.