Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $48.61 and last traded at $48.23, with a volume of 5390 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $48.04.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQBK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 1.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $723.32 million, a P/E ratio of 43.67 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $41.63 and a 200-day moving average of $37.97.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $55.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.77 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.88% and a net margin of 6.36%. Equities research analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.55%.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Leon Borck acquired 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $462,952.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed 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 that occurred 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 purchase, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted 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 worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $481,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter worth $42,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 24,210 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 3,067 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by 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.