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

Key Points

• Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 EQB shares at an average C$127.05 per share, investing C$1.02 million and increasing its ownership to 1,780,100 shares. The transaction followed several other EQB purchases in August and September.
• EQB shares slipped 0.1% to C$126.20, while the company reported C$2.12 in quarterly EPS on C$393.04 million in revenue. EQB also raised its quarterly dividend to C$0.63 from C$0.61.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: six analysts rate EQB a Buy, four a Hold, and one a Sell, producing an overall “Hold” consensus and an average price target of C$139.10.

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 25th. The shares were acquired at an average price of C$127.05 per share, with a total value of C$1,016,400.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,780,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at C$226,161,705. The trade was a 0.45% increase in their ownership of the stock.

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

• On Thursday, September 24th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$125.07 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,001,120.00.
• On Monday, September 21st, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average price of C$126.07 per share, with a total value of C$2,017,120.00.
• On Tuesday, September 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$126.95 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,031,200.00.
• On Thursday, September 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$126.90 per share, with a total value of C$2,030,400.00.
• On Tuesday, September 8th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$130.24 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,083,840.00.
• On Thursday, September 10th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$128.16 per share, with a total value of C$2,050,560.00.
• On Monday, August 31st, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$126.79 per share, with a total value of C$2,028,640.00.
• On Wednesday, September 2nd, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$127.81 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,044,960.00.
• On Thursday, September 3rd, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$133.12 per share, with a total value of C$1,064,960.00.
• On Monday, August 24th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$133.47 per share, with a total value of C$1,067,760.00.

EQB Trading Down 0.1%

EQB stock traded down C$0.17 on Friday, hitting C$126.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 61,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 123,349. The stock has a market cap of C$4.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -450.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$134.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$125.09. EQB Inc. has a 1 year low of C$83.93 and a 1 year high of C$150.32.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 EPS for the quarter. EQB had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a negative return on equity of 0.07%. The business had revenue of C$393.04 million during the quarter. As a group, equities analysts forecast that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. EQB's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -828.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on EQB from C$128.00 to C$127.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of EQB from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from C$136.00 to C$120.00 in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of EQB from C$141.00 to C$135.00 in a research note on Monday, August 31st. National Bank Financial lifted their target price on shares of EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, TD boosted their price target on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of C$139.10.

EQB Company Profile

EQB Inc TSX: EQB is a leading Canadian financial services company with approximately $151 billion in combined assets under management and administration. It is the parent company of Equitable Bank, the country's seventh largest Schedule I bank by assets, which operates EQ Bank, Canada's Challenger Bank. Our purpose is to remake banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Since 1970, we have built thoughtful financial solutions that serve more than 4 million customers, turning everyday moments into meaningful progress.

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