EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$106.56.

A number of research firms recently weighed in on EQB. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on EQB from C$104.00 to C$106.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$106.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of EQB from C$112.00 to C$109.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. Cormark reduced their price objective on EQB from C$121.00 to C$111.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of EQB from C$113.00 to C$109.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th.

EQB Trading Down 2.8 %

TSE EQB traded down C$3.03 on Tuesday, hitting C$105.00. 176,815 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 58,238. EQB has a 12 month low of C$71.90 and a 12 month high of C$109.26. The company has a market cap of C$4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.03, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$102.70 and a 200-day moving average of C$94.93.

EQB (TSE:EQB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported C$2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of C$2.93 by C$0.03. EQB had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 39.67%. The firm had revenue of C$327.24 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$325.00 million. On average, analysts expect that EQB will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a boost from EQB's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. EQB's payout ratio is presently 19.75%.

About EQB

EQB Inc, through its subsidiary, Equitable Bank, provides personal and commercial banking services to retail and commercial customers in Canada. The company accepts term deposits and guaranteed investment certificates, high interest savings accounts, institutional deposit notes and covered bonds, as well as specialized financing solutions.