EQB (TSE:EQB) Price Target Raised to C$129.00

EQB (TSE:EQB) had its target price boosted by Jefferies Financial Group from C$122.00 to C$129.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on EQB. National Bank Financial raised their target price on shares of EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. TD decreased their price target on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins increased their price target on EQB from C$132.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on EQB from C$123.00 to C$136.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$133.20.

EQB Stock Performance

TSE EQB opened at C$142.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. EQB has a one year low of C$83.93 and a one year high of C$150.32. The company’s 50 day moving average price is C$134.35 and its 200 day moving average price is C$121.86.

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

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. EQB’s dividend payout ratio is 44.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQB

In other news, insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, with a total value of C$1,100,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,346,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$185,250,282. This trade represents a 0.60% increase in their position. Also, Director Darren Lorimer sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$149.24, for a total transaction of C$111,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,042,889.12. This trade represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 38,100 shares of company stock valued at $5,407,348 and sold 7,484 shares valued at $1,069,719. 29.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.