Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Stock Price Down 7.3% – Here’s What Happened

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) shares dropped 7.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $45.73 and last traded at $45.3410. Approximately 59,976 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 87,108 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.90.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on EQBK. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $51.75.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.19 and a 200-day moving average of $42.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $861.53 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.35 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 60.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth about $49,541,000. CSM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $4,713,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 96.2% during the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 213,333 shares of the bank’s stock worth $8,704,000 after purchasing an additional 104,613 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the bank’s stock worth $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 110.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,982 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $5,915,000 after purchasing an additional 76,167 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, operating through its wholly owned subsidiary Equity Bank. As a full-service commercial bank, it serves both individual and business clients with a range of deposit and lending solutions.

The company’s offerings include traditional checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending products such as real estate, construction, equipment and agricultural loans. In addition, Equity Bancshares provides treasury management and payment processing services, as well as mortgage origination and servicing.