Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Rating) saw a significant decrease in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 199,200 shares, a decrease of 13.5% from the August 15th total of 230,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 45,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQBK shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Equity Bancshares from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 12th. Stephens lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares to $37.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares to $33.00 in a research report on Friday, July 22nd.
Equity Bancshares Trading Up 0.5 %
EQBK stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $29.74. 109,226 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 29,418. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $478.52 million, a PE ratio of 9.07 and a beta of 0.74. Equity Bancshares has a 1-year low of $28.06 and a 1-year high of $36.00.
Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 19th. The bank reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $49.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.21 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.77% and a net margin of 25.90%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equity Bancshares will post 3.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 30th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 29th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 9.76%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Equity Bancshares news, EVP Julie A. Huber sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total transaction of $292,315.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,978 shares in the company, valued at $1,445,513.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Julie A. Huber sold 9,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.77, for a total value of $292,315.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 46,978 shares in the company, valued at $1,445,513.06. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Gregory H. Kossover sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.53, for a total value of $167,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 66,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,228,034.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares
A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQBK. RMB Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $13,122,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 58.4% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 152,448 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $4,446,000 after buying an additional 56,191 shares in the last quarter. EJF Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 18.5% in the first quarter. EJF Capital LLC now owns 270,955 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $8,755,000 after buying an additional 42,234 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at $1,351,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 100.0% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 63,074 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after buying an additional 31,537 shares in the last quarter. 62.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Equity Bancshares
Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate-backed, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchisees, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agribusiness companies, and other businesses.