Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Sees Large Volume Increase

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 23,036 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 52% from the previous session’s volume of 48,169 shares.The stock last traded at $33.38 and had previously closed at $33.42.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Piper Sandler increased their price objective 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $33.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $509.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.65 and a beta of 0.91.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 16th. The bank reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $55.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.00 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 3.88% and a return on equity of 12.08%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Junetta M. Everett acquired 2,903 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $34.50 per share, with a total value of $100,153.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,548.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $69,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 530.7% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 25.5% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 6,400 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 97.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.