Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Receives $39.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.00.

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

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK opened at $39.04 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.04. The firm has a market cap of $595.48 million, a PE ratio of 65.07 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares has a twelve month low of $22.78 and a twelve month high of $42.64.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.07. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 3.75%. The business had revenue of $55.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.56 million. Analysts expect that Equity Bancshares will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In other news, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,952.57. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Leon Borck purchased 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $6,480,384.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,101 shares of company stock valued at $1,351,925 over the last quarter. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,541 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $322,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $322,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.