EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Buys C$1,156,960.00 in Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,242,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$179,632,502. The trade was a 0.65% increase in their position.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$141.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of TSE EQB opened at C$140.13 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$126.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$117.73. The stock has a market cap of C$4.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93. EQB Inc. has a 12 month low of C$83.93 and a 12 month high of C$150.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$302.36 million during the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Analysts forecast that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.01%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD cut their target price on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Desjardins increased their target price on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$122.50.

About EQB

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.