Loblaw Companies Limited Buys 8,000 Shares of EQB (TSE:EQB) Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$141.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,132,560.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,250,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$176,976,657. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00.
• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, with a total value of C$1,156,960.00.

EQB Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of EQB stock opened at C$139.62 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of C$4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$125.73 and a 200 day moving average of C$117.47. EQB Inc. has a 12 month low of C$83.93 and a 12 month high of C$150.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is a boost from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. EQB’s payout ratio is 44.01%.

Trending Headlines about EQB

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB at an average price of C$143.88, signaling continued insider confidence after previously adding shares on July 17 and July 20. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent purchases totaling 8,000 shares on both July 17 and July 20 reinforce the idea that a major shareholder sees value in EQB at current levels. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The buying activity may help support sentiment because Loblaw now owns more than 1.25 million EQB shares, a position valued at roughly C$177 million, which investors may read as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on EQB shares. National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 price target on shares of EQB and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price objective on shares of EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Desjardins boosted their target price on shares of EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$122.50.

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.