Equity Bancshares (EQBK) Competitors $42.92 -0.50 (-1.14%) Closing price 07/11/2025 03:58 PM EasternExtended Trading$42.90 -0.02 (-0.05%) As of 07/11/2025 04:10 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock EQBK vs. BUSE, FFBC, FRME, IBCP, IBOC, OBK, STEL, TCBK, TOWN, and FNBShould you be buying Equity Bancshares stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Equity Bancshares include First Busey (BUSE), First Financial Bancorp. (FFBC), First Merchants (FRME), Independent Bank (IBCP), International Bancshares (IBOC), Origin Bancorp (OBK), Stellarone (STEL), TriCo Bancshares (TCBK), Towne Bank (TOWN), and F.N.B. (FNB). These companies are all part of the "finance" sector. Equity Bancshares vs. Its Competitors First Busey First Financial Bancorp. First Merchants Independent Bank International Bancshares Origin Bancorp Stellarone TriCo Bancshares Towne Bank F.N.B. Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) and First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends and risk. Which has more volatility and risk, EQBK or BUSE? Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.78, suggesting that its stock price is 22% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, First Busey has a beta of 0.77, suggesting that its stock price is 23% less volatile than the S&P 500. Which has preferable earnings and valuation, EQBK or BUSE? First Busey has higher revenue and earnings than Equity Bancshares. Equity Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than First Busey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioEquity Bancshares$225.03M3.34$62.62M$3.9310.92First Busey$663.36M3.23$113.69M$1.0722.39 Is EQBK or BUSE more profitable? Equity Bancshares has a net margin of 18.66% compared to First Busey's net margin of 8.32%. Equity Bancshares' return on equity of 14.64% beat First Busey's return on equity.Company Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Equity Bancshares18.66% 14.64% 1.31% First Busey 8.32%8.46%0.96% Is EQBK or BUSE a better dividend stock? Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.4%. First Busey pays an annual dividend of $1.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Equity Bancshares pays out 15.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Busey pays out 93.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equity Bancshares has increased its dividend for 3 consecutive years and First Busey has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. First Busey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth. Do analysts rate EQBK or BUSE? Equity Bancshares currently has a consensus target price of $46.60, indicating a potential upside of 8.59%. First Busey has a consensus target price of $27.67, indicating a potential upside of 15.47%. Given First Busey's higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe First Busey is more favorable than Equity Bancshares.Company Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Equity Bancshares 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.50First Busey 0 Sell rating(s) 3 Hold rating(s) 3 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 2.50 Does the media favor EQBK or BUSE? In the previous week, First Busey had 7 more articles in the media than Equity Bancshares. MarketBeat recorded 13 mentions for First Busey and 6 mentions for Equity Bancshares. First Busey's average media sentiment score of 1.02 beat Equity Bancshares' score of 0.33 indicating that First Busey is being referred to more favorably in the news media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Equity Bancshares 0 Very Positive mention(s) 1 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Neutral First Busey 6 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 2 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of EQBK or BUSE? 71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 56.5% of First Busey shares are owned by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 3.9% of First Busey shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term. SummaryEquity Bancshares beats First Busey on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Equity Bancshares News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for EQBK and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding EQBK and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NASDAQ and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart EQBK vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricEquity BancsharesState commercial banks IndustryFinance SectorNASDAQ ExchangeMarket Cap$751.92M$1.33B$12.05B$9.10BDividend Yield1.38%8.35%5.52%4.00%P/E Ratio10.7815.0719.2020.27Price / Sales3.343.5125.3998.73Price / Cash10.6310.4721.6458.16Price / Book1.461.002.285.49Net Income$62.62M$688.35M$992.82M$250.45M7 Day Performance-0.96%-0.25%-0.20%4.78%1 Month Performance7.23%3.71%2.78%7.67%1 Year Performance16.55%8.56%536.06%16.43% Equity Bancshares Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)EQBKEquity Bancshares4.1198 of 5 stars$42.92-1.1%$46.60+8.6%+16.7%$751.92M$225.03M10.78700News CoverageUpcoming EarningsBUSEFirst Busey4.7779 of 5 stars$24.00-1.6%$27.67+15.3%-5.6%$2.18B$663.36M22.431,548News CoverageDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastFFBCFirst Financial Bancorp.4.5715 of 5 stars$25.49-1.4%$28.75+12.8%+9.0%$2.48B$1.62B10.582,090Analyst DowngradeFRMEFirst Merchants4.7053 of 5 stars$40.27-1.2%$46.40+15.2%+15.9%$2.38B$1.07B11.312,120News CoveragePositive NewsIBCPIndependent Bank3.5189 of 5 stars$33.93-1.9%$36.67+8.1%+20.7%$716.94M$323.14M10.81920Positive NewsIBOCInternational Bancshares2.4649 of 5 stars$69.90-1.8%N/A+13.8%$4.43B$826.01M10.642,336Positive NewsOBKOrigin Bancorp3.4619 of 5 stars$37.38-1.5%$42.20+12.9%+10.9%$1.16B$358.20M15.201,010News CoverageSTELStellarone1.9444 of 5 stars$29.57+6.6%$29.00-1.9%+26.5%$1.55B$625.45M13.491,025Gap UpTCBKTriCo Bancshares3.7165 of 5 stars$42.38-1.4%$47.80+12.8%+2.1%$1.41B$531.04M12.361,201News CoveragePositive NewsTOWNTowne Bank3.7552 of 5 stars$35.59-1.1%$40.00+12.4%+21.2%$2.70B$1.03B15.082,720Positive NewsFNBF.N.B.3.9575 of 5 stars$15.52-0.4%$17.57+13.2%+9.8%$5.61B$2.57B12.324,280News CoverageUpcoming EarningsAnalyst Forecast Related Companies and Tools Related Companies First Busey Alternatives First Financial Bancorp. Alternatives First Merchants Alternatives Independent Bank Alternatives International Bancshares Alternatives Origin Bancorp Alternatives Stellarone Alternatives TriCo Bancshares Alternatives Towne Bank Alternatives F.N.B. Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NASDAQ:EQBK) was last updated on 7/12/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersThis Signal Only Flashes Once Every 4 Years – And It Just TriggeredThis same signal has appeared twice before in the past 8 years — both times, it kicked off major moves in cryp...Crypto Swap Profits | SponsoredTrump wipes out trillions overnight…Is there anybody more powerful than Donald Trump right now? 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