EQB (TSE:EQB) Hits New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$127.31 and last traded at C$127.09, with a volume of 3040 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$126.30.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on EQB shares. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. Desjardins upped their target price on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. TD lowered their target price on EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Scotiabank raised their target price on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$122.50.

EQB Trading Down 0.5%

The stock has a market cap of C$4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company’s 50 day moving average is C$119.60 and its 200-day moving average is C$112.82.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The company had revenue of C$302.36 million during the quarter. As a group, analysts forecast that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.01%.

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.