Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Receives $53.20 Average PT from Analysts

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five 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 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $54.1667.

Several research analysts recently commented on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $229,650. This trade represents a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 1,686 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total value of $80,675.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 34,495 shares in the company, valued at $1,650,585.75. This trade represents a 4.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,469,000 after acquiring an additional 75,785 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $1,585,000. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $777,000. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $286,000. Finally, Maltese Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Maltese Capital Management LLC now owns 329,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,698,000 after purchasing an additional 3,173 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE EQBK opened at $50.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Equity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $36.04 and a 52 week high of $51.73.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 8.26%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

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.