Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Increases Dividend to $0.15 Per Share

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.15 per share by the bank on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a boost from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

Equity Bancshares has a payout ratio of 14.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Equity Bancshares to earn $4.12 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 14.6%.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of EQBK traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.58. The company had a trading volume of 19,345 shares, compared to its average volume of 48,643. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a current ratio of 0.84. The company has a market capitalization of $618.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.70 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.84. Equity Bancshares has a 52 week low of $22.78 and a 52 week high of $42.64.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $55.43 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.56 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 3.75%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total transaction of $1,007,912.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,674.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Equity Bancshares news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.64, for a total value of $1,007,912.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,674.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Gregory L. Gaeddert sold 6,000 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.99, for a total value of $245,940.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,167 shares in the company, valued at $703,675.33. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,101 shares of company stock worth $1,351,925. 8.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equity Bancshares Company Profile

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.