Wall Street Zen Upgrades Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) to Buy

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Benchmark initiated coverage on Equity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Finally, Hovde Group increased their target price on Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.00.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

EQBK stock opened at $50.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. Equity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $38.60 and a 12 month high of $52.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $50.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.13.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $81.93 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.34%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Equity Bancshares

In other news, COO Julie Huber sold 5,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $270,718.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 62,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,165,559.45. This trade represents a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brad Elliott sold 12,272 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.03, for a total transaction of $626,240.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,822,622.39. This trade represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 4,989 shares of company stock worth $250,919 and sold 26,186 shares worth $1,331,626. Insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,585,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after acquiring an additional 75,785 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 310.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 21,207 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,967,000. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $777,000. 71.80% of the stock is 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.