WCG Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 17,404 Equity Bancshares, Inc. $EQBK

WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 17,404 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $777,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Equity Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,933,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 334.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 36,987 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 87,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 27,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $46.48 on Friday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.04 and a 1 year high of $50.07. The stock has a market cap of $959.26 million, a PE ratio of 36.89 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s fifty day moving average is $45.41 and its 200-day moving average is $45.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.24 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 6.15%. Equities analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price target on Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $229,650. The trade was a 66.67% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 14.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equity Bancshares Profile

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.