EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$105.44.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Veritas raised shares of EQB to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on EQB from C$107.00 to C$93.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised EQB from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from C$108.00 to C$130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on EQB from C$93.00 to C$91.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on EQB from C$96.00 to C$103.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 5th.

EQB Price Performance

TSE EQB opened at C$107.32 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of C$4.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day moving average of C$99.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$96.38. EQB has a 1-year low of C$83.93 and a 1-year high of C$111.45.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported C$6.56 EPS for the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 8.52%. On average, analysts anticipate that EQB will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a $0.57 dividend. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. EQB’s payout ratio is presently 31.28%.

EQB Company Profile

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.