Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for EQB (TSE:EQB) Stock

Key Points

• Jefferies raised EQB’s price target from C$122 to C$129 while maintaining a “hold” rating, implying 7.82% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst views remain mixed: five rate EQB a “buy” and six recommend “hold,” producing an average rating of “hold” and an average price target of C$130.10.
• EQB reported quarterly EPS of C$2.03 on C$302.36 million in revenue, while the stock recently traded at C$139.94; insiders own 29.02% of the company and have been net buyers over the past 90 days.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from C$122.00 to C$129.00 in a report released on Thursday,BayStreet.CA reports. The brokerage currently has a "hold" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target points to a potential downside of 7.82% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. TD dropped their price target on EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial lifted their price objective on shares of EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 research note on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$136.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Desjardins raised their price target on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of C$130.10.

EQB Price Performance

TSE:EQB traded down C$1.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching C$139.94. The stock had a trading volume of 74,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,128. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. EQB has a 1-year low of C$83.93 and a 1-year high of C$150.32. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is C$133.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$121.50.

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

Insider Activity

In other EQB news, Director Darren Lorimer sold 1,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$149.00, for a total value of C$275,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$765,562. This trade represents a 26.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Gavin Stanley sold 900 shares of EQB stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$137.37, for a total value of C$123,633.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 2,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$307,434.06. This trade represents a 28.68% decrease in their position. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 38,100 shares of company stock valued at $5,407,348 and sold 7,484 shares valued at $1,069,719. Company insiders own 29.02% of the company's stock.

EQB Company Profile

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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