Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Free Report) and Bank OZK (NASDAQ:OZK – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and dividends.
Risk & Volatility
Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.78, meaning that its share price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bank OZK has a beta of 0.85, meaning that its share price is 15% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Profitability
This table compares Equity Bancshares and Bank OZK’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Equity Bancshares | 18.66% | 14.64% | 1.31% |
| Bank OZK | 25.83% | 13.90% | 1.93% |
Valuation & Earnings
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Equity Bancshares | $225.03 million | 3.01 | $62.62 million | $3.93 | 9.85 |
| Bank OZK | $1.66 billion | 3.05 | $716.46 million | $6.10 | 7.32 |
Bank OZK has higher revenue and earnings than Equity Bancshares. Bank OZK is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equity Bancshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Equity Bancshares and Bank OZK, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Equity Bancshares | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.50 |
| Bank OZK | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2.13 |
Equity Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $46.60, suggesting a potential upside of 20.42%. Bank OZK has a consensus target price of $50.86, suggesting a potential upside of 13.83%. Given Equity Bancshares’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Equity Bancshares is more favorable than Bank OZK.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 86.2% of Bank OZK shares are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Bank OZK shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Dividends
Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Bank OZK pays an annual dividend of $1.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Equity Bancshares pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bank OZK pays out 28.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Equity Bancshares has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years and Bank OZK has raised its dividend for 29 consecutive years. Bank OZK is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.
Summary
Bank OZK beats Equity Bancshares on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Equity Bancshares
Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products. The company's loan products also comprise 1 4 family residential mortgages, agriculture, consumer, residential real estate mortgage, and agricultural real estate and production loans. It also provides debit and credit cards; insurance brokerage; trust and wealth management; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. It operates a network of branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Equity Bancshares, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
About Bank OZK
Bank OZK provides various retail and commercial banking services for individuals and businesses in the United States. The company offers deposit services, including non-interest bearing checking, interest bearing transaction, business sweep, savings, money market, individual retirement, and other accounts, as well as time and reciprocal deposits. It also provides trust and wealth services, such as personal trusts, custodial accounts, investment management accounts, and retirement accounts, as well as corporate trust services, including trustee, paying agent and registered transfer agent services, and other related services. In addition, the company offers treasury management services comprising automated clearing house, wire transfer, transaction reporting, wholesale lockbox, remote deposit capture, automated credit line transfer, reconciliation, positive pay, commercial card, and other services, as well as zero balance and investment sweep accounts. Further, it provides real estate, consumer, small business, indirect recreational vehicle and marine, equipment, agricultural, commercial and industrial, government guaranteed, lines of credit, homebuilder, and affordable housing loans; lender and structured, business aviation, and subscription financing services; and mortgage and other lending products. Additionally, the company offers ATMs; telephone, online, and mobile banking services; credit and debit cards; safe deposit boxes; and other products and services. The company was formerly known as Bank of the Ozarks and changed its name to Bank OZK in July 2018. Bank OZK was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas.
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