Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Director Leon Borck Acquires 250 Shares

Key Points

• Equity Bancshares Director Leon Borck acquired 250 shares of the company's stock at an average price of $40.32, increasing his ownership by 2.66%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend increase from $0.15 to $0.18 per share, resulting in a 1.8% yield for shareholders.
• Analysts have set a new target price for Equity Bancshares, with ratings ranging from $45.00 to $54.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report) Director Leon Borck purchased 250 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $40.32 per share, for a total transaction of $10,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 9,655 shares in the company, valued at $389,289.60. The trade was a 2.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.53. The company had a trading volume of 97,879 shares, compared to its average volume of 79,776. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $39.75. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $778.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.18 and a beta of 0.82. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.11 and a 12 month high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Equity Bancshares currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $50.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 1.3% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,547,284 shares of the bank's stock worth $60,963,000 after buying an additional 19,139 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $47,539,000 after buying an additional 79,195 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in 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 buying an additional 47,716 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in 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 buying an additional 99,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 0.5% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 398,844 shares of the bank's stock worth $16,273,000 after buying an additional 1,867 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.