Loblaw Companies Limited Purchases 8,000 Shares of EQB (TSE:EQB) Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,242,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$179,632,502. The trade was a 0.65% increase in their position.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$143.88 per share, with a total value of C$877,668.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average cost of C$141.57 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Price Performance

Shares of TSE:EQB opened at C$139.62 on Wednesday. EQB Inc. has a 1 year low of C$83.93 and a 1 year high of C$150.32. The company has a market cap of C$4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50-day moving average is C$125.73 and its 200 day moving average is C$117.47.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$302.36 million during the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%. Analysts expect that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. EQB’s payout ratio is 44.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Desjardins upped their price objective on shares of EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 price target on shares of EQB and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, TD cut their price objective 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. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$122.50.

Key Headlines Impacting EQB

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB at an average price of C$143.88, signaling continued insider confidence after previously adding shares on July 17 and July 20. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent purchases totaling 8,000 shares on both July 17 and July 20 reinforce the idea that a major shareholder sees value in EQB at current levels. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The buying activity may help support sentiment because Loblaw now owns more than 1.25 million EQB shares, a position valued at roughly C$177 million, which investors may read as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook. Article Title

About EQB

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.