Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Stock Has Average Target Price of $55.33 According to Analysts

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $55.33.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EQBK shares. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Weiss Ratings raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $47.14 on Monday. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $38.60 and a fifty-two week high of $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.62.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.34%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares will post 5.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 4,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $212,914.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,827,600.56. The trade was a 7.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Julie A. Huber sold 2,197 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $112,310.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,009 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,900.08. The trade was a 3.42% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders purchased 4,989 shares of company stock valued at $250,919 and sold 24,500 shares valued at $1,250,951. Company insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $408,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter worth $293,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 38,500.0% during the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,544 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 1,540 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a community-focused financial institution headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. The company provides banking services to individuals, families, businesses, agricultural customers and government entities through its branch network and digital banking channels.

Equity Bank’s products and services include checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, consumer lending, residential mortgages, commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate financing, agricultural loans, treasury management and other business banking services.