Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) Holdings Lifted by Mendon Capital Advisors Corp

Mendon Capital Advisors Corp grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 2,539.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 350,000 shares of the bank’s stock after purchasing an additional 336,742 shares during the period. Equity Bancshares accounts for about 10.4% of Mendon Capital Advisors Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Mendon Capital Advisors Corp owned about 2.29% of Equity Bancshares worth $12,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EQBK. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 97.0% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 7,190 shares of the bank’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at $322,000. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equity Bancshares in the second quarter valued at $322,000. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new position in Equity Bancshares during the first quarter worth about $364,000. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK opened at $39.38 on Wednesday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1 year low of $22.78 and a 1 year high of $42.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.97. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $600.66 million, a P/E ratio of 65.63 and a beta of 0.90.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 3.75% and a return on equity of 12.43%. Equities analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.