Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Rating Increased to Hold at Hovde Group

Hovde Group upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.25.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.7%

EQBK stock opened at $47.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Equity Bancshares has a 1 year low of $36.04 and a 1 year high of $50.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.50. The firm has a market cap of $988.35 million, a PE ratio of 38.00 and a beta of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.24 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 12.85%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 5.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the transaction, the director 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after buying an additional 75,785 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $1,933,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 16,290.5% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 46,428 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Bancshares

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.