Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Friday . Approximately 60,427 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 23% from the previous session’s volume of 49,086 shares.The stock last traded at $42.18 and had previously closed at $42.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Stephens upgraded shares of 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. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $40.62. The firm has a market cap of $647.07 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.47 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.77 million. Equities research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.7% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,735 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the 3rd 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. 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.