Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.17, FiscalAI reports. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 13.43%. The business had revenue of $83.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.24 million.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of EQBK opened at $45.19 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $948.43 million, a PE ratio of 35.86 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s fifty day moving average is $45.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.23. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $34.74 and a fifty-two week high of $50.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.96%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on EQBK. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,930,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,216,000 after purchasing an additional 44,681 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 80,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,586,000 after purchasing an additional 7,753 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at $468,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 711,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,773,000 after purchasing an additional 18,878 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 159,208 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,109,000 after purchasing an additional 6,644 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

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.