Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBKGet Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.20.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on EQBK shares. Hovde Group started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings cut Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company.

Check Out Our Latest Report on EQBK

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 2.8%

NYSE EQBK opened at $49.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.28 and a beta of 0.78. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $36.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $45.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBKGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $83.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.24 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 6.15%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 1,686 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total transaction of $80,675.10. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 34,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,650,585.75. This represents a 4.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Donald Scott Rogerson purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $229,650. This represents a 66.67% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,768,000 after buying an additional 96,695 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after acquiring an additional 75,785 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $1,933,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 16,290.5% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after acquiring an additional 46,428 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.

See Also

Analyst Recommendations for Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK)

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