Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Shares Cross Below Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)’s share price passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.22 and traded as low as $45.71. Equity Bancshares shares last traded at $46.0370, with a volume of 74,404 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EQBK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $52.67.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 1.4%

The firm has a market cap of $878.20 million, a PE ratio of 11.57 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.69.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.96%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 5.6% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,306 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 282.0% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares during the period. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,252 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 33.3% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,189 shares of the bank’s stock worth $89,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its stake in Equity Bancshares by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, operating through its wholly owned subsidiary Equity Bank. As a full-service commercial bank, it serves both individual and business clients with a range of deposit and lending solutions.

The company’s offerings include traditional checking, savings and money market accounts, alongside consumer and commercial lending products such as real estate, construction, equipment and agricultural loans. In addition, Equity Bancshares provides treasury management and payment processing services, as well as mortgage origination and servicing.