Insider Selling: Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) COO Sells $112,310.64 in Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) COO Julie Huber sold 2,197 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $112,310.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,169,900.08. This trade represents a 3.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE EQBK traded up $0.26 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.24. 43,264 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 117,721. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $47.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.06 billion, a PE ratio of 30.69 and a beta of 0.77. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.04 and a 12-month high of $51.73.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The firm had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.10 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,930,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,216,000 after purchasing an additional 44,681 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,222,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,768,000 after purchasing an additional 96,695 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Partners GP II L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter worth $49,541,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 921,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,518,000 after purchasing an additional 22,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 761,014 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,974,000 after purchasing an additional 3,765 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.17.

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.