The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 14,843 Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 342,632 shares of the bank's stock after selling 14,843 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 2.25% of Equity Bancshares worth $12,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Petiole USA ltd bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,945,000. Quadrature Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter worth approximately $322,000. Denali Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 112.5% in the first quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 13,600 shares of the bank's stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,541 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 8.0% in the first 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. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:EQBK traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $39.14. 25,789 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 48,161. The firm has a market capitalization of $597.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 65.07 and a beta of 0.90. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.78 and a 52-week high of $42.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The business's fifty day moving average is $39.46 and its 200-day moving average is $36.06.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The bank reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.92 by $0.07. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.43% and a net margin of 3.75%. The company had revenue of $55.43 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.56 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Equity Bancshares's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on EQBK. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Stephens upped their target price on Equity Bancshares from $39.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Equity Bancshares from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $39.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Equity Bancshares news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,161,674.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Equity Bancshares news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 24,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,161,674.24. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,480,384.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,101 shares of company stock valued at $1,351,925 over the last quarter. 8.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.