Insider Buying: EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Buys 8,000 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB on July 20 at an average price of C$141.57, adding about C$1.13 million to its stake. The insider now directly owns 1,250,100 shares valued at roughly C$177 million.
• This latest purchase follows two other recent insider buys of EQB stock on July 15 and July 17, showing continued insider accumulation over a short period. Those trades totaled 14,100 additional shares.
• EQB shares traded down on the day to C$140.76, but the stock remains near its 52-week high of C$150.32. The company recently raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.61 from C$0.59.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) insider Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$141.57 per share, with a total value of C$1,132,560.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,250,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$176,976,657. The trade was a 0.64% increase in their position.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00.
• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00.

EQB Price Performance

TSE EQB traded down C$1.89 on Monday, reaching C$140.76. The company had a trading volume of 150,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,838. The firm has a market cap of C$4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93. EQB Inc. has a fifty-two week low of C$83.93 and a fifty-two week high of C$150.32. The business has a 50 day moving average of C$125.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$117.22.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%. As a group, research analysts predict that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This is an increase from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. EQB's payout ratio is presently 44.01%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD lowered their price target on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Desjardins lifted their target price on shares of EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$122.50.

About EQB

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.

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