EQB (TSE:EQB) Price Target Raised to C$165.00

EQB (TSE:EQB) had its target price raised by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$151.00 to C$165.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has an outperformer rating on the stock.

EQB has been the subject of several other research reports. TD raised their price objective on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Desjardins upped their target price on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$129.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$136.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$138.10.

EQB Stock Performance

TSE:EQB opened at C$133.42 on Wednesday. EQB has a 1 year low of C$83.93 and a 1 year high of C$150.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of C$136.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$122.88. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 EPS for the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The company had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. On average, analysts predict that EQB will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s dividend payout ratio is 44.01%.

Insider Transactions at EQB

In related news, Director Darren Lorimer sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$149.24, for a total transaction of C$111,930.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,988 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,042,889.12. This represents a 9.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$134.00 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,072,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,426,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$191,097,400. This trade represents a 0.56% increase in their position. Over the last ninety days, insiders bought 46,100 shares of company stock worth $6,479,348 and sold 7,484 shares worth $1,069,719. Insiders own 29.02% of the company’s stock.

EQB Company Profile

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.