Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 840,934 shares of the bank's stock after purchasing an additional 37,187 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 5.50% of Equity Bancshares worth $35,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $119,000. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 139.9% in the 4th quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 2,725 shares of the bank's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the fourth quarter valued at about $259,000. Patriot Financial Partners GP LP increased its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Partners GP LP now owns 1,217,214 shares of the bank's stock worth $51,634,000 after acquiring an additional 215,000 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 30,081 shares of the bank's stock worth $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EQBK traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $36.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 61,041 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,123. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company's 50-day moving average is $39.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.56. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.98 and a fifty-two week high of $50.85. The stock has a market cap of $636.99 million, a PE ratio of 9.14 and a beta of 0.73.

Equity Bancshares Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.