EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$139.10.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EQB. Desjardins lowered their target price on EQB from C$155.00 to C$150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on EQB from C$131.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 28th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on EQB from C$141.00 to C$135.00 in a research report on Monday, August 31st. TD lifted their price objective on EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on EQB from C$128.00 to C$127.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EQB news, insider Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$133.12 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,064,960.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 1,556,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$207,148,032. The trade was a 0.52% increase in their position. Over the last quarter, insiders have acquired 118,100 shares of company stock worth $15,780,308 and have sold 7,484 shares worth $1,069,719. Company insiders own 29.02% of the company’s stock.

EQB Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of EQB stock opened at C$128.51 on Friday. EQB has a twelve month low of C$83.93 and a twelve month high of C$150.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$136.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$124.40. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -458.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.83.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a negative return on equity of 0.07% and a negative net margin of 0.08%.The company had revenue of C$393.04 million for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts expect that EQB will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. EQB’s payout ratio is currently -828.57%.

About EQB

EQB Inc (TSX: EQB) is a leading Canadian financial services company with approximately $151 billion in combined assets under management and administration. It is the parent company of Equitable Bank, the country’s seventh largest Schedule I bank by assets, which operates EQ Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank. Our purpose is to remake banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Since 1970, we have built thoughtful financial solutions that serve more than 4 million customers, turning everyday moments into meaningful progress.