Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The stock traded as high as $48.77 and last traded at $48.42, with a volume of 2215 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $47.62.
Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upgraded 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 report on Monday, October 14th.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Equity Bancshares
The company has a market cap of $747.38 million, a PE ratio of 44.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $42.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.
Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $55.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.77 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 13.53%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. Equity Bancshares's payout ratio is 54.55%.
In other Equity Bancshares news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $98,072.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. The trade was a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon Borck acquired 1,467 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $38.77 per share, for a total transaction of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 11,941 shares of the company's stock, valued at $462,952.57. This trade represents a 14.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank's stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 19,240 shares of the bank's stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 3.1% during the second quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the bank's stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 4.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 37,735 shares of the bank's stock valued at $1,543,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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.
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