EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Loblaw Companies Limited Purchases 8,000 Shares

Key Points

• Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 EQB shares at an average price of C$133.47, investing C$1.07 million and increasing its direct holdings to 1.44 million shares. The company has made several additional EQB purchases recently.
• EQB shares fell 3.2% to C$124.64, below the C$138.30 consensus analyst target. While most analysts maintain buy or outperform ratings, Raymond James downgraded the stock to “underperform” with a C$120 target.
• EQB reported C$2.12 in quarterly EPS on C$393.04 million in revenue and increased its quarterly dividend to C$0.61 per share, equivalent to a 2.0% yield.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$133.47 per share, with a total value of C$1,067,760.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,442,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$192,477,087. This represents a 0.56% increase in their position.

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

• On Wednesday, August 26th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$137.01 per share, with a total value of C$1,096,080.00.
• On Thursday, August 27th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$124.91 per share, with a total value of C$1,998,560.00.
• On Thursday, August 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$134.00 per share, with a total value of C$1,072,000.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$142.40 per share, with a total value of C$1,139,200.00.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,100,960.00.
• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought 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 shares were purchased at an average price of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$141.57 per share, with a total value of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Stock Down 3.2%

EQB stock traded down C$4.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting C$124.64. 164,848 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 120,521. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. EQB Inc. has a 1-year low of C$83.93 and a 1-year high of C$150.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of C$136.99 and a 200 day moving average of C$123.60.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$393.04 million for the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. Research analysts expect that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This is an increase from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB's dividend payout ratio is presently 44.01%.

EQB News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for EQB to C$146 from C$131 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, indicating confidence in the company’s longer-term outlook. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital maintained a “buy” rating and a C$145 price target, citing the PC Financial acquisition’s potential to diversify EQB’s revenue and deposit base and support future earnings growth. BMO analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins lowered its target to C$150 from C$155 but retained a “buy” rating, while CIBC cut its target to C$154 from C$165 and assigned an “outperformer” rating. Both targets remain well above the recent trading level. Analyst target changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The analyst revisions show a more cautious valuation outlook after the quarterly results, but the majority of cited firms continue to recommend buying or outperforming EQB shares.
• Negative Sentiment: EQB reported a C$127 million third-quarter loss, driven largely by a C$219 million provision for credit losses associated with the PC Financial transaction. Although revenue increased and the company reported C$2.12 in quarterly EPS under the cited earnings measure, the headline loss raises concerns about near-term credit quality and integration costs. MarketWatch EQB credit-loss report
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James downgraded EQB from “market perform” to “underperform” and reduced its price target to C$120 from C$136, making it the clearest bearish signal among the latest analyst updates. Raymond James analyst rating

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQB. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$129.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial downgraded EQB from a "market perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from C$136.00 to C$120.00 in a report on Friday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their target price on shares of EQB from C$165.00 to C$154.00 and set an "outperformer" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial increased their target price on EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EQB has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$138.30.

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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