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

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $51.3333.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQBK. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 16th.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of EQBK opened at $45.78 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.08. Equity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $36.04 and a 52-week high of $50.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $944.80 million, a PE ratio of 36.33 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders 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 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In other news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $229,650. This represents a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 14.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the second quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 233.0% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

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.