Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Sunday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Hovde Group raised their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “buy” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.33.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

Equity Bancshares stock opened at $50.15 on Friday. Equity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $38.60 and a 12 month high of $52.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.03 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.34. 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 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 firm had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.34% and a net margin of 8.26%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 5.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Bancshares

In other Equity Bancshares news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 4,165 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,827,600.56. This trade represents a 7.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lisa Ann Schlehuber purchased 989 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.98 per share, with a total value of $50,419.22. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 2,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,650.16. This trade represents a 89.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 4,989 shares of company stock worth $250,919 and have sold 24,500 shares worth $1,250,951. 14.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 48,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,159,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 38,500.0% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 74,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,294,000 after buying an additional 1,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 745,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,122,000 after acquiring an additional 2,758 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

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.