Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.60.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

In related news, COO Julie A. Huber sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.10, for a total value of $156,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 57,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,255,600.80. The trade was a 6.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.3% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,547,284 shares of the bank's stock valued at $60,963,000 after buying an additional 19,139 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Financial Partners GP LP increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Partners GP LP now owns 1,217,214 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,634,000 after acquiring an additional 215,000 shares during the period. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.0% during the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,206,571 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,539,000 after acquiring an additional 79,195 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 888,650 shares of the bank's stock worth $35,013,000 after acquiring an additional 47,716 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 17.2% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 676,587 shares of the bank's stock worth $26,658,000 after acquiring an additional 99,357 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Equity Bancshares stock opened at $38.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $681.84 million, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.13. Equity Bancshares has a 12-month low of $31.75 and a 12-month high of $50.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.27%.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.

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