Zacks Investment Management Sells 5,282 Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Zacks Investment Management trimmed its position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 25.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,861 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 5,282 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management owned approximately 0.10% of Equity Bancshares worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EQBK. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.8% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 74.1% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Triune Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $268,000. Finally, PDT Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $282,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equity Bancshares news, Director Leon Borck purchased 1,467 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This represents a 14.01 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total value of $98,072.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. This trade represents a 1.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQBK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stephens upgraded Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $47.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.00. The company has a market cap of $729.64 million, a P/E ratio of 43.38 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.44 and a 52-week high of $50.85.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $55.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.77 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 6.36%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This is an increase from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 54.55%.

About Equity Bancshares

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Equity Bank that provides a range of banking, mortgage banking, and financial services to individual and corporate customers. The company accepts various demand, savings, money market, and time deposits. Its loan products include commercial and industrial, commercial real estate, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment and aircraft financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products.