Renaissance Technologies LLC Sells 24,600 Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. $EQBK

Renaissance Technologies LLC trimmed its stake in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) by 62.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,600 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.07% of Equity Bancshares worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,585,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 75,785 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 310.3% during the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 21,207 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $777,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $286,000. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQBK. Weiss Ratings raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Benchmark started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Stephens raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Hovde Group started coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Lisa Ann Schlehuber acquired 989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $50.98 per share, with a total value of $50,419.22. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 2,092 shares in the company, valued at $106,650.16. The trade was a 89.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Julie A. Huber sold 5,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total transaction of $270,718.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,009 shares in the company, valued at $3,165,559.45. This represents a 7.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,039 shares of company stock valued at $1,324,083. 14.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE EQBK opened at $51.61 on Monday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.60 and a 1-year high of $52.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.90 and a beta of 0.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $49.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $46.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 8.26%. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is 43.11%.

About Equity Bancshares

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.