EQB (TSE:EQB) Sets New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as C$109.64 and last traded at C$108.76, with a volume of 13242 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$107.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of EQB from C$104.00 to C$106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of EQB from C$113.00 to C$109.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. CIBC increased their price target on shares of EQB from C$105.00 to C$113.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$106.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, TD Securities lowered their target price on shares of EQB from C$112.00 to C$109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$106.56.

EQB Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm has a market cap of C$4.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.59. The company’s 50-day moving average is C$103.07 and its 200-day moving average is C$95.15.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported C$2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of C$2.93 by C$0.03. EQB had a net margin of 39.67% and a return on equity of 14.70%. The firm had revenue of C$327.24 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$325.00 million. Equities research analysts forecast that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 EPS for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. EQB’s payout ratio is 19.75%.

About EQB

EQB Inc, through its subsidiary, Equitable Bank, provides personal and commercial banking services to retail and commercial customers in Canada. The company accepts term deposits and guaranteed investment certificates, high interest savings accounts, institutional deposit notes and covered bonds, as well as specialized financing solutions.