Scotiabank Cuts EQB (TSE:EQB) Price Target to C$135.00

EQB (TSE:EQB) had its price objective reduced by Scotiabank from C$141.00 to C$135.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,BayStreet reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. National Bank Financial increased their price target on EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial downgraded EQB from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from C$136.00 to C$120.00 in a research report on Friday, August 28th. TD increased their price objective on EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of EQB from C$131.00 to C$146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Finally, Desjardins reduced their price objective on EQB from C$155.00 to C$150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EQB presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$139.30.

EQB Stock Performance

EQB stock opened at C$128.64 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$137.01 and a 200 day moving average price of C$123.88. EQB has a 52 week low of C$83.93 and a 52 week high of C$150.32. The firm has a market capitalization of C$5.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -459.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a negative return on equity of 0.07% and a negative net margin of 0.08%.The company had revenue of C$393.04 million for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that EQB will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. EQB’s payout ratio is currently -828.57%.

Insider Activity at EQB

In other EQB news, insider Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$124.91 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,998,560.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,474,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$184,129,831. This represents a 1.10% increase in their position. Also, Director Darren Lorimer sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$149.24, for a total value of C$111,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,042,889.12. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their position. In the last quarter, insiders have bought 78,100 shares of company stock valued at $10,641,748 and have sold 7,484 shares valued at $1,069,719. 29.02% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About EQB

EQB Inc (TSX: EQB) is a leading Canadian financial services company with approximately $151 billion in combined assets under management and administration. It is the parent company of Equitable Bank, the country’s seventh largest Schedule I bank by assets, which operates EQ Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank. Our purpose is to remake banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Since 1970, we have built thoughtful financial solutions that serve more than 4 million customers, turning everyday moments into meaningful progress.