Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Position Increased by Foundry Partners LLC

Foundry Partners LLC lifted its position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 119,525 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,540 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC owned about 0.78% of Equity Bancshares worth $4,886,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in EQBK. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares during the third quarter valued at approximately $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Triune Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 97.0% in the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 2.5 %

EQBK opened at $47.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $42.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.60. The company has a market capitalization of $729.45 million, a P/E ratio of 43.37 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.92 and a fifty-two week high of $48.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $55.35 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.77 million. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 6.36% and a return on equity of 13.53%. On average, analysts anticipate that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Insider Transactions at Equity Bancshares

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