Insider Selling: Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) General Counsel Sells $80,675.10 in Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) General Counsel Brett Reber sold 1,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total value of $80,675.10. Following the completion of 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE EQBK opened at $48.34 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $45.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.04 and a 52 week high of $50.07. The company has a market capitalization of $997.76 million, a P/E ratio of 38.37 and a beta of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 6.15%.The firm had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.24 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 57.14%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,469,000 after purchasing an additional 75,785 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,933,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 16,290.5% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 46,428 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQBK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.25.

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.