Insider Buying: EQB (TSE:EQB) Insider Buys 8,000 Shares of Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$133.47 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,067,760.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 1,442,100 shares in the company, valued at C$192,477,087. This trade represents a 0.56% increase in their position.

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

• On Wednesday, August 26th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$137.01 per share, with a total value of C$1,096,080.00.
• On Thursday, August 27th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$124.91 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,998,560.00.
• On Thursday, August 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$134.00 per share, with a total value of C$1,072,000.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$142.40 per share, with a total value of C$1,139,200.00.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$137.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,100,960.00.
• On Wednesday, July 15th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 6,100 shares of EQB stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of C$143.88 per share, with a total value of C$877,668.00.
• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$141.57 per share, with a total value of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Stock Down 3.2%

Shares of EQB traded down C$4.15 on Friday, reaching C$124.64. The stock had a trading volume of 164,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 120,521. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.42 billion, a PE ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.92. EQB Inc. has a twelve month low of C$83.93 and a twelve month high of C$150.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of C$136.99 and a 200 day moving average of C$123.60.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share for the quarter. EQB had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 6.16%. The business had revenue of C$393.04 million during the quarter. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.61 dividend. This represents a $2.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on EQB shares. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on EQB from C$120.00 to C$143.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on EQB from C$122.00 to C$129.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Raymond James Financial cut shares of EQB from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from C$136.00 to C$120.00 in a research note on Friday. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Desjardins dropped their price objective on shares of EQB from C$155.00 to C$150.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$138.30.

More EQB News

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its price target for EQB to C$146 from C$131 and reiterated an “outperform” rating, indicating confidence in the company’s longer-term outlook. BayStreet.CA analyst ratings
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital maintained a “buy” rating and a C$145 price target, citing the PC Financial acquisition’s potential to diversify EQB’s revenue and deposit base and support future earnings growth. BMO analyst commentary
• Positive Sentiment: Desjardins lowered its target to C$150 from C$155 but retained a “buy” rating, while CIBC cut its target to C$154 from C$165 and assigned an “outperformer” rating. Both targets remain well above the recent trading level. Analyst target changes
• Neutral Sentiment: The analyst revisions show a more cautious valuation outlook after the quarterly results, but the majority of cited firms continue to recommend buying or outperforming EQB shares.
• Negative Sentiment: EQB reported a C$127 million third-quarter loss, driven largely by a C$219 million provision for credit losses associated with the PC Financial transaction. Although revenue increased and the company reported C$2.12 in quarterly EPS under the cited earnings measure, the headline loss raises concerns about near-term credit quality and integration costs. MarketWatch EQB credit-loss report
• Negative Sentiment: Raymond James downgraded EQB from “market perform” to “underperform” and reduced its price target to C$120 from C$136, making it the clearest bearish signal among the latest analyst updates. Raymond James analyst rating

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.