Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $50.10 and last traded at $50.1910, with a volume of 142411 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.99.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQBK. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $53.20.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $46.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.85% and a net margin of 6.15%.The firm had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.24 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Insider Activity

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Donald Scott Rogerson acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 29th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.93 per share, for a total transaction of $91,860.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,650. This represents a 66.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 1,686 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total value of $80,675.10. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 34,495 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,650,585.75. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 14.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EQBK. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,541,000. FJ Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the third quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,768,000 after acquiring an additional 96,695 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 37.2% in the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,469,000 after purchasing an additional 75,785 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,933,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 16,290.5% during the fourth quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 46,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after purchasing an additional 46,428 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

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.