Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Equity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 13th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Hovde Group increased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $50.00 price target on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Friday, October 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.67.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE:EQBK opened at $49.10 on Monday. Equity Bancshares has a 12-month low of $40.00 and a 12-month high of $52.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.35.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.11. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 20.34%. The business had revenue of $83.73 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.91 million. Equities research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $50.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 10,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $505,150. The trade was a 24.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 745,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,967,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.4% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 87,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,865,000 after acquiring an additional 6,707 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 48,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,585,000. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Through its principal subsidiary, Equity Bank, the company provides banking services to businesses, agricultural operations, institutions and individual consumers.

Equity Bank’s products and services include commercial and agricultural lending, real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services and wealth management. The bank also provides cash-management and other financial solutions designed to support business and community banking customers.

Founded in 2002, Equity Bancshares has expanded through organic growth and the acquisition of community banks.