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

Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $48.40.

EQBK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 282.0% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 680 shares of the bank’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $59,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 233.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the bank’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,347 shares during the last quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $331,000. Finally, Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $315,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $40.42 on Thursday. Equity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $34.11 and a 52 week high of $50.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $776.79 million, a PE ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $40.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.63.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 17.87%.

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.