Insider Selling: Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Sells $626,240.16 in Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott sold 12,272 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.03, for a total value of $626,240.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 55,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,822,622.39. The trade was a 18.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE:EQBK traded down $0.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $50.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 148,962 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,485. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.04 and a twelve month high of $51.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30 and a beta of 0.77.

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

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQBK has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Hovde Group initiated coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stephens raised their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Monday, June 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $54.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 shares of Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $1,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 310.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after buying an additional 21,207 shares during the period. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth about $777,000. Finally, MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at about $286,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

About Equity Bancshares

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.