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

Key Points

• Equity Bancshares, Inc. has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts, with an average 12-month target price of $48.40.
• Institutional investors hold 71.80% of the stock, with Wellington Management Group increasing its position by 740% over the last quarter.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.18, representing a yield of 1.8%, up from the previous dividend of $0.15.

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.40.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQBK shares. DA Davidson upped their price target on Equity Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 740.0% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 577,230 shares of the bank's stock valued at $24,486,000 after acquiring an additional 508,509 shares during the last quarter. CSM Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equity Bancshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,713,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 96.2% during the second quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 213,333 shares of the bank's stock valued at $8,704,000 after acquiring an additional 104,613 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.0% during the first quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,206,571 shares of the bank's stock valued at $47,539,000 after acquiring an additional 79,195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 110.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 144,982 shares of the bank's stock valued at $5,915,000 after acquiring an additional 76,167 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $41.05 on Thursday. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.94 and its 200 day moving average is $39.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company has a market capitalization of $788.88 million, a P/E ratio of 10.31 and a beta of 0.83. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $34.11 and a fifty-two week high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.87%.

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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