EQB (TSE:EQB) Shares Pass Above 200 Day Moving Average - What's Next?

Key Points

• EQB shares crossed above their 200-day moving average, reaching C$142.14 before closing at C$140.27, well above the C$119.27 long-term average.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed: five analysts rate EQB a Buy and six rate it a Hold, with an average price target of C$122.50—below the recent trading price.
• EQB reported quarterly EPS of C$2.03 on C$302.36 million in revenue and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.61 per share, equivalent to a 1.7% annual yield.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) crossed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$119.27 and traded as high as C$142.14. EQB shares last traded at C$140.27, with a volume of 42,990 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 price target on EQB and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. TD lowered their price objective on EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Desjardins increased their target price on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$122.50.

EQB Price Performance

The stock's 50-day moving average is C$129.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$119.27. The stock has a market cap of C$4.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93.

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

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. EQB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.01%.

Insider Transactions at EQB

In related news, Director Darren Lorimer sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$149.24, for a total transaction of C$111,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly 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 purchased 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$141.57 per share, with a total value of C$1,132,560.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,250,100 shares in the company, valued at C$176,976,657. This represents a 0.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 22,100 shares of company stock valued at $3,167,188 and have sold 7,484 shares valued at $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.

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