Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $54.1667.

Several analysts recently weighed in on EQBK shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Benchmark assumed coverage on Equity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target on the stock. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens increased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, COO Julie A. Huber sold 5,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total value of $270,718.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 62,009 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,559.45. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Ann Schlehuber bought 989 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.98 per share, for a total transaction of $50,419.22. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,092 shares in the company, valued at $106,650.16. This trade represents a 89.66% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 26,039 shares of company stock valued at $1,324,083. 14.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,768,000 after buying an additional 96,695 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter worth about $3,967,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% during 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. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the third quarter worth about $1,933,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

EQBK stock opened at $51.00 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54 and a beta of 0.77. Equity Bancshares has a 1 year low of $36.31 and a 1 year high of $52.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.62.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.10 million. On average, research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

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.