The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Decreases Stake in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,770 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,862 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 2.19% of Equity Bancshares worth $13,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised 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 during the period. Triune Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $268,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,952.57. This trade represents a 14.01 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $98,072.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQBK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upgraded Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK opened at $47.99 on Monday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.92 and a 52-week high of $50.85. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.32. The firm has a market cap of $733.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.63 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.32. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 6.36%. The firm had revenue of $55.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.77 million. Research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.55%.

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.