EQB (TSE:EQB) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after TD Securities upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. TD Securities now has a C$138.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of C$103.00. EQB traded as high as C$119.88 and last traded at C$119.32, with a volume of 20375 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$117.83.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on shares of EQB from C$98.00 to C$111.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank upped their target price on EQB from C$102.00 to C$105.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Veritas raised EQB to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Desjardins lifted their price target on EQB from C$110.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded EQB from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from C$108.00 to C$130.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, EQB presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of C$115.22.

EQB Stock Down 3.2%

The company has a market capitalization of C$4.39 billion, a PE ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$106.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$97.54.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, December 3rd. The company reported C$6.56 EPS for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 8.52% and a net margin of 13.04%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.28%.

EQB Company Profile

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.