Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) COO Julie Huber Sells 5,303 Shares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) COO Julie Huber sold 5,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.05, for a total value of $270,718.15. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,165,559.45. The trade was a 7.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Equity Bancshares stock opened at $50.59 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.03 and a 200-day moving average of $46.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.04 and a 52 week high of $51.73.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 8.26%.The firm had revenue of $81.93 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.10 million. On average, analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 43.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQBK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Hovde Group assumed coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 target price for the company. Stephens increased their price target on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Benchmark began coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 51,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,306,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Equity Bancshares by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,516 shares of the company’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 486 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.