EQB (TSE:EQB) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as C$107.97 and last traded at C$107.97, with a volume of 13062 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$107.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cormark dropped their target price on shares of EQB from C$121.00 to C$111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. TD Securities cut their price objective on EQB from C$112.00 to C$109.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 30th. CIBC increased their target price on EQB from C$105.00 to C$113.00 in a report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on EQB from C$113.00 to C$109.00 in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on EQB from C$104.00 to C$106.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of C$106.56.

EQB Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of C$99.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$92.73. The firm has a market capitalization of C$4.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.59.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported C$2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of C$2.93 by C$0.03. The firm had revenue of C$327.24 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$325.00 million. EQB had a net margin of 39.67% and a return on equity of 14.70%. Equities analysts predict that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

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