EQB (TSE:EQB) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as C$111.91 and last traded at C$111.34, with a volume of 80496 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$108.91.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on EQB shares. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of EQB from C$96.00 to C$103.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded 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 dropped their price target on EQB from C$93.00 to C$91.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Desjardins upped their price objective on EQB from C$107.00 to C$110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on EQB from C$102.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, EQB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$105.44.

EQB Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is C$100.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$96.48.

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

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. EQB’s payout ratio 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.