Stephens Upgrades Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) to Overweight

Stephens upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm currently has $46.00 target price on the bank’s stock.

Separately, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.00.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK opened at $43.72 on Monday. Equity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $22.78 and a 12 month high of $45.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.84 and a 200-day moving average of $36.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $666.86 million, a P/E ratio of 72.87 and a beta of 0.89.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $55.43 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.56 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.43%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,952.57. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total transaction of $1,007,912.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,674.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,101 shares of company stock worth $1,351,925. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $322,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 112.5% during the 1st quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 13,600 shares of the bank’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 97.0% in the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,190 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 8.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,240 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after buying an additional 5,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth $364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.