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

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$122.50.

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQB shares. TD lowered their price target on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective on EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 target price on EQB and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price target on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th.

EQB Price Performance

Shares of EQB opened at C$136.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$120.87 and a 200-day moving average of C$114.04. EQB has a one year low of C$83.93 and a one year high of C$137.17.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. Analysts expect that EQB will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.01%.

About EQB

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.