EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$133.20.

Several research firms recently issued reports on EQB. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$136.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$129.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday.

EQB Stock Performance

Shares of TSE:EQB opened at C$142.00 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of C$5.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.90, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is C$134.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$121.97. EQB has a 12-month low of C$83.93 and a 12-month high of C$150.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$302.36 million during the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. As a group, research analysts forecast that EQB will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. EQB’s payout ratio is 44.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at EQB

In other news, insider Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,100,960.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,346,100 shares in the company, valued at C$185,250,282. This trade represents a 0.60% increase in their position. Also, insider Gavin Stanley sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$137.37, for a total value of C$123,633.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 2,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$307,434.06. This trade represents a 28.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 38,100 shares of company stock valued at $5,407,348 and sold 7,484 shares valued at $1,069,719. 29.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

EQB Company Profile

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.