Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.00.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Hovde Group upped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ EQBK opened at $39.57 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.91 and a 200-day moving average of $43.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $692.83 million, a P/E ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.73. Equity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $30.44 and a 52 week high of $50.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. Barclays PLC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 247.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 16,595 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 175.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 112,292 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,590,000 after acquiring an additional 71,547 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.1% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 360,457 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $14,735,000 after acquiring an additional 17,431 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth about $2,809,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Bancshares

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.