Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases 20,894 Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: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. increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) by 127.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,352 shares of the bank's stock after acquiring an additional 20,894 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned approximately 0.21% of Equity Bancshares worth $1,472,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,528,145 shares of the bank's stock worth $64,824,000 after buying an additional 153,528 shares during the last quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. FJ Capital Management LLC now owns 1,127,376 shares of the bank's stock worth $47,823,000 after buying an additional 100,219 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 5.7% in the 1st 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 holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 740.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 577,230 shares of the bank's stock worth $24,486,000 after buying an additional 508,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendon Capital Advisors Corp increased its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 403,208 shares of the bank's stock worth $17,104,000 after buying an additional 81,118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EQBK shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $47.80.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of Equity Bancshares stock opened at $39.34 on Friday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.11 and a 52-week high of $50.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $689.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.88 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.84 and a 200-day moving average of $39.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio is 14.89%.

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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