Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott Sells 416 Shares

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) CEO Brad Elliott sold 416 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.02, for a total transaction of $21,224.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 55,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,822,069.26. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $50.61 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31 and a beta of 0.77. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.04 and a 12-month high of $51.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $48.23 and a 200-day moving average of $46.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 14th. The company reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $81.93 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.10 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.67% and a net margin of 8.26%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 279,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,469,000 after buying an additional 75,785 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth $1,585,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 310.3% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 28,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 21,207 shares during the last quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $777,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 48,621 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,159,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EQBK. Hovde Group assumed coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $47.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.17.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.