Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $50.40.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on EQBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 16th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at about $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 233.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 33.3% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,189 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $89,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK opened at $45.01 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.72. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $34.11 and a fifty-two week high of $48.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $858.52 million, a P/E ratio of 11.31 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

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.