EQB (TSE:EQB) Reaches New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$126.37 and last traded at C$125.91, with a volume of 98987 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$122.60.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. TD reduced their target price on EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, TD Securities dropped their price target on EQB from C$138.00 to C$132.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$122.50.

EQB Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$118.07 and a 200 day moving average of C$111.29. The firm has a market cap of C$4.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.01.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%. On average, research analysts predict that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be paid a $0.61 dividend. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. EQB’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.01%.

About EQB

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.