Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $48.61 and last traded at $48.23, with a volume of 5390 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on EQBK. Stephens upgraded Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.7 %

The company has a market cap of $723.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.10 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $42.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.84.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 6.36%. The company had revenue of $55.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.77 million. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,384.56. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon Borck acquired 1,467 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the purchase, the director now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,952.57. The trade was a 14.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth $42,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triune Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $268,000. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.