Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Sells 4,165 Shares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott sold 4,165 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.12, for a total value of $212,914.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,313 shares in the company, valued at $2,827,600.56. This trade represents a 7.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.0%

Equity Bancshares stock traded up $0.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $50.73. 19,029 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 117,337. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $36.04 and a one year high of $51.73. The company has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a PE ratio of 30.37 and a beta of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.42. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 8.26% and a return on equity of 13.67%. The business had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $85.10 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 37.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 310.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 21,207 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 4th quarter worth $777,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $286,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQBK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Equity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Stephens boosted their price objective 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.