Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $53.67

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $53.67.

EQBK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. DA Davidson set a $50.00 target price on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Hovde Group upped their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, September 4th. Stephens reduced their price target on Equity Bancshares from $61.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 16th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of Equity Bancshares stock opened at $49.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.18 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.64 and its 200 day moving average is $47.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Equity Bancshares has a twelve month low of $39.97 and a twelve month high of $52.27.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 14th. The company reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $83.73 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.91 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.73% and a net margin of 20.34%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares will post 5.17 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson bought 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was bought at an average price of $50.00 per share, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $505,150. This represents a 24.68% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $3,967,000. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the first quarter worth $1,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 310.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 21,207 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 98.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 32,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after acquiring an additional 16,200 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $408,000. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc is a financial holding company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Through its principal subsidiary, Equity Bank, the company provides banking services to businesses, agricultural operations, institutions and individual consumers.

Equity Bank’s products and services include commercial and agricultural lending, real estate financing, consumer loans, deposit accounts, treasury management, online and mobile banking, mortgage services and wealth management. The bank also provides cash-management and other financial solutions designed to support business and community banking customers.

Founded in 2002, Equity Bancshares has expanded through organic growth and the acquisition of community banks.