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

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.00.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group increased their target price on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,158 shares of the bank’s stock worth $346,000 after buying an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,266 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,033 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $595,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,013 shares of the bank’s stock worth $4,794,000 after acquiring an additional 721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $39.57 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $30.44 and a fifty-two week high of $50.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $692.83 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.08%.

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.