SG Americas Securities LLC Increases Stake in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,043 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 991 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.8% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Triune Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares during the third quarter worth approximately $268,000. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $282,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $322,000. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQBK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Hovde Group increased their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens reduced their target price on Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Equity Bancshares from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $48.00.

Equity Bancshares Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of Equity Bancshares stock opened at $44.71 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $43.95 and a 200-day moving average of $42.42. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.44 and a 1-year high of $50.85. The company has a market capitalization of $683.60 million, a PE ratio of 11.23 and a beta of 0.91. 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is 15.08%.

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.