StockNews.com Begins Coverage on Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK)

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Rating) in a report issued on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the bank’s stock.

Separately, TheStreet cut shares of Equity Bancshares from a b- rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Monday, April 10th.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ EQBK opened at $22.47 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Equity Bancshares has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $38.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $23.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.69. The stock has a market cap of $347.84 million, a P/E ratio of 6.69 and a beta of 0.76.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 18th. The bank reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.03. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 22.86% and a return on equity of 13.40%. The company had revenue of $48.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.66 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares will post 2.87 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 31st were issued a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 30th. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 11.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Bancshares news, EVP Julie A. Huber sold 938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.85, for a total value of $27,999.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,050 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,392.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Equity Bancshares news, EVP Julie A. Huber sold 938 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.85, for a total value of $27,999.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 54,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,613,392.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 1,031 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.85, for a total transaction of $30,775.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 26,250 shares in the company, valued at $783,562.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 7,660 shares of company stock worth $195,396 and sold 4,042 shares worth $119,035. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dorsey Wright & Associates bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 40.4% during the fourth quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 406.0% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 393.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the bank’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158 shares during the period. 59.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Equity Bancshares

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Equity Bancshares, Inc is a bank holding company, which engages in the provision of financial services to individuals and businesses. The firm also offers commercial and personal banking services such as savings, treasury management and loans. The company was founded by Brad S. Elliott in November 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, KS.