EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$105.44.

Several brokerages have weighed in on EQB. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on EQB from C$107.00 to C$93.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of EQB from C$107.00 to C$110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of EQB from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from C$108.00 to C$130.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$93.00 to C$91.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of EQB from C$102.00 to C$105.00 in a research report on Friday, January 9th.

EQB Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:EQB opened at C$111.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of C$4.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is C$101.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$96.64. EQB has a one year low of C$83.93 and a one year high of C$112.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported C$6.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 13.04%. Equities research analysts predict that EQB will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.28%.

EQB Company Profile

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.