Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Shares Sold by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,117 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 6,481 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of EQBK. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp lifted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 2,539.9% during the second quarter. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp now owns 350,000 shares of the bank’s stock worth $12,320,000 after purchasing an additional 336,742 shares during the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 890.4% during the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 104,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 94,385 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 754,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,917,000 after acquiring an additional 10,868 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 35.2% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 41,585 shares of the bank’s stock worth $1,464,000 after buying an additional 10,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the second quarter worth approximately $322,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EQBK shares. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stephens upgraded shares of Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of EQBK stock opened at $47.22 on Monday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.92 and a 1 year high of $48.61. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.25 and its 200-day moving average is $38.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $720.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.93 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

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

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insider Activity at Equity Bancshares

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

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.