Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the six brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $51.25.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on EQBK. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of Equity Bancshares stock opened at $46.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $961.97 million, a P/E ratio of 36.99 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $45.92 and a 200 day moving average of $45.68. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $36.04 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $83.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.24 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 12.85%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In related news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $229,650. This trade represents a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 1,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total transaction of $80,675.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 34,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,585.75. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after purchasing an additional 75,785 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $1,933,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 16,290.5% in the 4th quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 46,428 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Company 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.