Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) has been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.3333.

EQBK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.93 per share, with a total value of $91,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $229,650. The trade was a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 0.6% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 48,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,306,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 5.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 1.1%

Equity Bancshares stock opened at $45.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $941.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.20 and a beta of 0.78. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $36.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $45.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.25.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.24 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 6.15%. Analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.14%.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.