EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Hold consensus: Ten analysts cover EQB with an overall "Hold" (six holds, four buys) and an average 12‑month price target of C$117.44.
• Analyst moves are mixed but slightly bullish, with Desjardins raising its target to C$125 and BMO upgrading to "outperform" (C$130) while TD trimmed its target to C$132.
• EQB raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.59 (from C$0.57), implying an annualized C$2.36 payout, a ~2.0% yield and a 36.06% payout ratio.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the ten analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$117.44.

Several analysts recently weighed in on EQB shares. Desjardins raised their target price on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. TD Securities dropped their price target on shares of EQB from C$138.00 to C$132.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$97.00 to C$109.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$111.00 to C$120.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of EQB from a "hold" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from C$108.00 to C$130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

EQB Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of TSE:EQB opened at C$116.34 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is C$113.72 and its 200 day moving average price is C$102.01. The stock has a market cap of C$4.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.70. EQB has a fifty-two week low of C$83.93 and a fifty-two week high of C$126.51.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. EQB's payout ratio is currently 36.06%.

About EQB

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.