Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Receives $54.17 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $54.1667.

Several brokerages have commented on EQBK. Weiss Ratings raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Hovde Group initiated coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lisa Ann Schlehuber acquired 989 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.98 per share, for a total transaction of $50,419.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,650.16. This represents a 89.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Julie A. Huber sold 2,197 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 62,009 shares in the company, valued at $3,169,900.08. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 26,039 shares of company stock worth $1,324,083 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $145,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 334.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 48,038 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,893,000 after purchasing an additional 36,987 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 18.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,679 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 1,521 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 23.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 90,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,547,000 after buying an additional 17,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.4% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 61,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 3,187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:EQBK opened at $51.73 on Friday. Equity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $38.60 and a 52-week high of $52.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $49.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $81.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 8.26%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

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.