Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.60.

A number of brokerages recently commented on EQBK. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Hovde Group upped their target price on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 311.5% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,041 shares of the bank’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter valued at $355,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 64,386 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 23,255 shares of the bank’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 81,650.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 3,266 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Equity Bancshares stock opened at $39.41 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $690.08 million, a PE ratio of 9.90 and a beta of 0.73. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $38.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.42. Equity Bancshares has a one year low of $31.75 and a one year high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.27%.

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, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.