Kennedy Capital Management LLC Purchases New Position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 84,712 shares of the bank's stock, valued at approximately $3,593,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.55% of Equity Bancshares at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Equity Bancshares by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,213 shares of the bank's stock valued at $131,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 26,266 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,033 shares of the bank's stock valued at $595,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 113,013 shares of the bank's stock worth $4,794,000 after buying an additional 721 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 19.6% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 6,043 shares of the bank's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.80% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EQBK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Equity Bancshares from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Equity Bancshares in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Hovde Group increased their price target on Equity Bancshares from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on Equity Bancshares from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.60.

Equity Bancshares Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of EQBK traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $36.38. The stock had a trading volume of 61,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,127. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.56. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.98 and a 1-year high of $50.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $636.99 million, a P/E ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Equity Bancshares's payout ratio is 15.27%.

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.