Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Sets New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $47.23 and last traded at $46.50, with a volume of 43601 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $42.66.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Stephens raised shares of Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $41.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $706.08 million, a PE ratio of 42.59 and a beta of 0.89.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $55.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.77 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 13.88%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $98,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at $6,480,384.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Borck purchased 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,952.57. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $42,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after buying an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 97.0% during the first 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, Triune Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth $268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

About Equity Bancshares

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.