Insider Buying: Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Director Purchases $50,419.22 in Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Director Lisa Ann Schlehuber bought 989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.98 per share, for a total transaction of $50,419.22. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 2,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,650.16. The trade was a 89.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of EQBK stock traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $50.59. 148,962 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 118,485. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.04 and a 52-week high of $51.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30 and a beta of 0.77.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The company had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.10 million. Equities analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on EQBK shares. Benchmark initiated coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Hovde Group began coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Stephens upped their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth $145,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 334.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,038 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,893,000 after acquiring an additional 36,987 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Equity Bancshares by 18.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Equity Bancshares by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 90,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,547,000 after purchasing an additional 17,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 61,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after purchasing an additional 3,187 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.