Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Stock

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) had its price target lifted by stock analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $43.00 to $48.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “market perform” rating on the bank’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective would indicate a potential downside of 0.25% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on EQBK. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens raised shares of Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $48.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $735.75 million, a P/E ratio of 43.75 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $27.28 and a 12 month high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.32. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $55.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.77 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equity Bancshares

In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $98,072.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,384.56. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This trade represents a 14.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Foundry Partners LLC increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 13.8% in the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 119,525 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,886,000 after acquiring an additional 14,540 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 754,069 shares of the bank’s stock worth $25,917,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares in the last quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2,539.9% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 350,000 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $12,320,000 after purchasing an additional 336,742 shares during the period. ELCO Management Co. LLC raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 3.1% during the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.