Equity Bancshares, Inc. (EQBK) – What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.67.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Hovde Group raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. DA Davidson set a $50.00 target price on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 2.4%

EQBK opened at $48.66 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $48.86 and a 200-day moving average of $48.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.79 and a beta of 0.80. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $39.97 and a fifty-two week high of $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

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

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 19.51%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Julie A. Huber sold 5,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $270,718.15. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,165,559.45. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 12,272 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.03, for a total value of $626,240.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,822,622.39. This trade represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 5,369 shares of company stock valued at $269,456 and sold 24,500 shares valued at $1,250,951. 14.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 38,500.0% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System bought a new position in Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $227,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $293,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $286,000. 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.