EQB (TSE:EQB) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$143.00 and last traded at C$142.99, with a volume of 27734 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$136.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Desjardins increased their price objective on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. TD decreased their target price on EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$112.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 price target on EQB and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of C$122.50.

EQB Stock Up 6.1%

The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$123.28 and a 200 day moving average of C$116.07. The stock has a market capitalization of C$5.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93.

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

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 an increase 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 presently 44.01%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider David Wilkes sold 400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$139.07, for a total value of C$55,628.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$167,857.49. This represents a 24.89% decrease in their position. Also, Director Daniel Broten sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of C$141.74, for a total value of C$212,610.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$713,377.42. This trade represents a 22.96% decrease in their position. Insiders sold 2,243 shares of company stock valued at $316,526 in the last three months. Company insiders own 29.02% of the company’s stock.

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.