Insider Buying: Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Director Purchases 250 Shares of Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Director Leon Borck acquired 250 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $41.57 per share, with a total value of $10,392.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $411,750.85. The trade was a 2.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Leon Borck also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, October 17th, Leon Borck bought 250 shares of Equity Bancshares stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of $40.32 per share, for a total transaction of $10,080.00.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:EQBK traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $41.64. 67,882 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 79,744. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.11 and a fifty-two week high of $50.85. The company has a market capitalization of $800.24 million, a PE ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.23.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 60.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 64,386 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,537,000 after buying an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $355,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 311.5% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Princeton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $217,000. Finally, Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $349,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQBK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price target for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.40.

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.