Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) Short Interest Up 19.6% in March

Key Points

• Short interest rose 19.6% in March to 467,632 shares, representing about 2.6% of shares sold short and a short-interest ratio of 3.8 days based on average daily volume.
• Equity Bancshares declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share (ex-dividend Mar 31, payable Apr 15), equal to a $0.72 annualized payout with a ~1.6% yield and a payout ratio near 55%.
• Analysts' consensus is "Hold" (one Buy, five Holds) with an average price target of $52.67; the stock trades around $44.30 with a market cap of about $930M and a P/E of 33.8.

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 467,632 shares, a growth of 19.6% from the February 26th total of 391,051 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 123,076 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

Shares of EQBK traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.30. 75,727 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 107,866. Equity Bancshares has a twelve month low of $34.11 and a twelve month high of $50.07. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $45.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $43.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $929.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.81 and a beta of 0.86.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares's payout ratio is 54.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 972 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the period. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 233.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the company's stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQBK. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Equity Bancshares from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $52.67.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company's core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.

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