Brad Elliott Sells 416 Shares of Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott sold 416 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.02, for a total transaction of $21,224.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,822,069.26. This trade represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of EQBK opened at $50.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $48.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 8.26%.The company had revenue of $81.93 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $85.10 million. Equities analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on EQBK shares. Stephens increased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.17.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 282.0% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 972 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 553 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 233.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Equity Bancshares by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.