Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) versus Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) Head to Head Comparison

Glacier Bancorp (NASDAQ:GBCI) and Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Risk & Volatility

Glacier Bancorp has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.89, suggesting that its stock price is 11% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Glacier Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.32 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.1%. Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Glacier Bancorp pays out 64.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Equity Bancshares pays out 60.0% 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.

Profitability

This table compares Glacier Bancorp and Equity Bancshares’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Glacier Bancorp	14.99%	5.98%	0.68%
Equity Bancshares	18.66%	14.64%	1.31%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

80.2% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. 0.5% of Glacier Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Glacier Bancorp and Equity Bancshares”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Glacier Bancorp	$921.82 million	6.00	$190.14 million	$2.04	20.87
Equity Bancshares	$192.21 million	4.12	$62.62 million	$1.20	34.30

Glacier Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Equity Bancshares. Glacier Bancorp 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 for Glacier Bancorp and Equity Bancshares, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Glacier Bancorp	0	2	3	1	2.83
Equity Bancshares	0	3	3	0	2.50

Glacier Bancorp presently has a consensus price target of $50.40, suggesting a potential upside of 18.36%. Equity Bancshares has a consensus price target of $50.40, suggesting a potential upside of 22.45%. Given Equity Bancshares’ higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equity Bancshares is more favorable than Glacier Bancorp.

Summary

Glacier Bancorp beats Equity Bancshares on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Glacier Bancorp

Glacier Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Glacier Bank that provides commercial banking services to individuals, small to medium-sized businesses, community organizations, and public entities in the United States. The company offers retail banking, business banking, and mortgage origination and loan servicing services. It also provides non-interest bearing deposit and interest bearing deposit accounts, such as negotiable order of withdrawal and demand deposit accounts, savings, money market deposits, fixed rate certificates of deposit, negotiated-rate jumbo certificates, and individual retirement accounts. In addition, the company offers construction and permanent loans on residential real estate; consumer land or lot loans; unimproved land and land development loans; and residential builder guidance lines comprising pre-sold and spec-home construction, and lot acquisition loans. Further, it provides commercial real estate loans to purchase, construct, and finance commercial real estate properties; consumer loans secured by real estate, automobiles, or other assets; home equity loans consisting of junior lien mortgages, and first and junior lien lines of credit secured by owner-occupied 1-4 family residences; and agriculture loans. Glacier Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1955 and is headquartered in Kalispell, Montana.

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.