Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the four ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Stephens upped their price target on Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Gregory L. Gaeddert sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total value of $245,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $703,675.33. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total transaction of $1,007,912.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,161,674.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Gaeddert sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total transaction of $245,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $703,675.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 18,425 shares of the bank’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $42,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 97.0% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 3,541 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 5.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,831 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,810,000 after buying an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $38.24 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $36.44 and its 200-day moving average is $34.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.83. Equity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $22.78 and a 52 week high of $42.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $583.27 million, a PE ratio of 63.73 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.07. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.57%. The firm had revenue of $55.43 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.56 million. Equities research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares will post 4.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.00%.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.