EQB (TSE:EQB) Sets New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$115.58 and last traded at C$115.39, with a volume of 19525 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$114.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQB has been the subject of several research reports. Veritas upgraded shares of EQB to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of EQB from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from C$108.00 to C$130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of EQB from C$96.00 to C$103.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 5th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on EQB from C$93.00 to C$91.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on EQB from C$102.00 to C$105.00 in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, EQB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$105.44.

EQB Stock Up 1.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.40, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is C$102.79 and its 200-day moving average is C$96.74.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported C$6.56 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 13.04%. On average, analysts expect that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. EQB’s payout ratio is presently 31.28%.

About EQB

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.