Brett Reber Sells 1,686 Shares of Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) Stock

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE:EQBK) General Counsel Brett Reber sold 1,686 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.85, for a total transaction of $80,675.10. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 34,495 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,650,585.75. The trade was a 4.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Equity Bancshares stock opened at $48.34 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.93. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.04 and a 1 year high of $50.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $45.55. The stock has a market cap of $997.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37 and a beta of 0.78.

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 14th. The company reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.17. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.15% and a return on equity of 12.85%. The company had revenue of $83.26 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $85.24 million. As a group, research analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EQBK shares. DA Davidson lowered their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $48.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Equity Bancshares from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 16th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $51.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Equity Bancshares from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.25.

Institutional Trading of Equity Bancshares

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $777,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter worth approximately $154,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 393.2% in the 4th quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 2,363 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 29.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 2,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 233.0% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Equity Bank, a regional financial services provider headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. As a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker EQBK, Equity Bancshares operates a network of branches and lending offices across Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Illinois and Colorado. Its geographic footprint spans both urban and rural markets, reflecting a focus on supporting small businesses, agricultural enterprises and individual consumers throughout the Midwest.

The company’s core business activities encompass a full spectrum of commercial and consumer banking services.