Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. $EQBK

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. significantly increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares, purchasing 20,894 shares to bring its total to 37,352 shares, representing a 127.0% increase in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including T. Rowe Price and Wellington Management Group, have also ramped up their investments in Equity Bancshares, indicating strong interest from the financial sector.
• Equity Bancshares announced a quarterly dividend of $0.15, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 1.5% and a payout ratio of 14.89%.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) by 127.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 37,352 shares of the bank's stock after buying an additional 20,894 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.21% of Equity Bancshares worth $1,472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellwether Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth about $39,000. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 311.5% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the bank's stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $98,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 81,650.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the bank's stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the period. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $47.80.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of EQBK stock traded down $0.6050 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.4950. The company's stock had a trading volume of 98,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,815. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.83 and a 200-day moving average of $39.82. The stock has a market cap of $759.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 0.85. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.11 and a twelve 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 Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.89%.

Equity Bancshares Profile

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.