Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.15 Per Share

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, September 12th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given 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 yield of 1.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12.

Equity Bancshares has a payout ratio of 14.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities 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 %

Equity Bancshares stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $40.58. 19,345 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 48,643. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.55 and a 200 day moving average of $35.84. 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 firm has a market cap of $618.97 million, a P/E ratio of 67.70 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares has a 12-month low of $22.78 and a 12-month high of $42.64.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $55.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.56 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 3.75%. Research analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Equity Bancshares

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 value of $1,007,912.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,161,674.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Leon Borck bought 1,467 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,674.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,101 shares of company stock valued at $1,351,925. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

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.