EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Purchases C$1,998,560.00 in Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$124.91 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,998,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,474,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$184,129,831. This trade represents a 1.10% increase in their position.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, August 24th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average price of C$133.47 per share, with a total value of C$1,067,760.00.
• On Wednesday, August 26th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$137.01 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,096,080.00.
• On Thursday, August 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$134.00 per share, with a total value of C$1,072,000.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$142.40 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,139,200.00.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, with a total value of C$1,100,960.00.
• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00.
• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, with a total value of C$1,156,960.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$141.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Trading Down 3.2%

EQB traded down C$4.15 on Friday, hitting C$124.64. 164,848 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 120,521. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is C$136.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$123.60. EQB Inc. has a one year low of C$83.93 and a one year high of C$150.32. The firm has a market cap of C$4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$393.04 million during the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s payout ratio is presently 44.01%.

EQB News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for EQB to C$146 from C$131 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, indicating confidence in the company’s longer-term outlook. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital maintained a “buy” rating and a C$145 price target, citing the PC Financial acquisition’s potential to diversify EQB’s revenue and deposit base and support future earnings growth. BMO analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins lowered its target to C$150 from C$155 but retained a “buy” rating, while CIBC cut its target to C$154 from C$165 and assigned an “outperformer” rating. Both targets remain well above the recent trading level. Analyst target changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The analyst revisions show a more cautious valuation outlook after the quarterly results, but the majority of cited firms continue to recommend buying or outperforming EQB shares.
• Negative Sentiment: EQB reported a C$127 million third-quarter loss, driven largely by a C$219 million provision for credit losses associated with the PC Financial transaction. Although revenue increased and the company reported C$2.12 in quarterly EPS under the cited earnings measure, the headline loss raises concerns about near-term credit quality and integration costs. MarketWatch EQB credit-loss report
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James downgraded EQB from “market perform” to “underperform” and reduced its price target to C$120 from C$136, making it the clearest bearish signal among the latest analyst updates. Raymond James analyst rating

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank raised their price objective on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on EQB from C$122.00 to C$129.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce decreased their price objective on EQB from C$165.00 to C$154.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on EQB from C$131.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of EQB from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from C$136.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EQB currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$138.30.

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.