EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Buys 8,000 Shares

Key Points

• Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 EQB shares at an average price of C$134, investing C$1.072 million. The purchase increased its ownership by 0.56% to 1,426,100 shares valued at approximately C$191.1 million.
• EQB shares rose 0.3% to C$133.03, with a market capitalization of C$4.71 billion. The stock has traded between C$83.93 and C$150.32 over the past year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of C$138.10, while EQB raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.61 per share, representing a 1.8% annualized yield.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,426,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$191,097,400. This trade represents a 0.56% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 4th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$142.40 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,139,200.00.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,100,960.00.
• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00.
• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$141.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of EQB stock traded up C$0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting C$133.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 43,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,459. The company has a market cap of C$4.71 billion, a PE ratio of 26.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$135.76 and a 200-day moving average of C$122.81. EQB Inc. has a 52 week low of C$83.93 and a 52 week high of C$150.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%.The firm had revenue of C$302.36 million during the quarter. As a group, research analysts predict that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQB. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$136.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Desjardins upped their price target on EQB from C$132.00 to C$155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, TD increased their target price on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of C$138.10.

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.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source