Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Given New $57.00 Price Target at Hovde Group

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) had its price objective hoisted by Hovde Group from $56.00 to $57.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the bank’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. 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 research report on Monday, October 14th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $47.40.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $43.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $662.24 million, a PE ratio of 39.37 and a beta of 0.92. Equity Bancshares has a 12 month low of $30.44 and a 12 month high of $50.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $44.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.97.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equity Bancshares

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sippican Capital Advisors lifted its position in Equity Bancshares by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 19,064 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $809,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Equity Bancshares by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 360,457 shares of the bank’s stock worth $14,735,000 after acquiring an additional 17,431 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 247.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 23,308 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $953,000 after acquiring an additional 16,595 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

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.