Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Holdings Increased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,240 shares of the bank’s stock after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Equity Bancshares worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Foundry Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 890.4% in the second quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 104,985 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after buying an additional 94,385 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Equity Bancshares by 5.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 79,831 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 3,838 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 1st quarter valued at about $42,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 754,069 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $25,917,000 after purchasing an additional 10,868 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 75,240 shares of the bank’s stock worth $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 5,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,384.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.64, for a total transaction of $98,072.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,480,384.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 151,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,161,674.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,101 shares of company stock worth $1,351,925 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $41.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $636.51 million, a P/E ratio of 69.55 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s fifty day moving average is $39.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.78 and a 12-month high of $42.64.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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%. Equities analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Equity Bancshares 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.