Zacks Investment Research has improved the shares of Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ: EQBK – Get Rating) from a hold rating to a strong buy rating in a research note released Tuesday, Zacks.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $36.00 price target on the bank’s stock.

According to Zacks, “Equity Bancshares, Inc. operates as a bank holding company primarily in Kansas and Missouri. The company provides financial services primarily to corporations, business owners, and individuals. It offers certificates of deposits, individual retirement and money market accounts, home equity lines of credit, credit cards, mortgages, cash management, personal and business loans, investment services Equity Bancshares, Inc. is headquartered social in Wichita, Kansas.”

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Equity Bancshares shares from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Monday.

Equity Bancshares shares opened at $31.72 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt ratio of 0.19. Equity Bancshares has a fifty-two week low of $28.01 and a fifty-two week high of $36.00. The company has a fifty-day moving average of $31.53. The company has a market capitalization of $528.46 million, a P/E ratio of 9.41 and a beta of 0.71.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly results on Tuesday, April 19. The bank reported earnings per share of $0.93 for the quarter, beating consensus analyst estimates of $0.63 by $0.30. Equity Bancshares had a net margin of 26.61% and a return on equity of 14.20%. In the same period a year earlier, the company posted earnings of $0.65 per share. As a group, analysts expect Equity Bancshares to post earnings per share of 3.07 for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 14. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 31 received a dividend of $0.08 per share. This represents a dividend of $0.32 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 30. Equity Bancshares payout rate is 9.50%.

Separately, director Gregory L. Gaeddert sold 2,000 shares in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 22. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.79, for a total transaction of $65,580.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. 8.10% of the shares are currently held by insiders of the company.

Several institutional investors have recently changed their positions in EQBK. UBS Group AG increased its equity position in Equity Bancshares by 663.1% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 992 shares in the bank worth $33,000 after buying an additional 862 shares last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Equity Bancshares shares by 130.8% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,482 shares of the bank worth $49,000 after buying 840 more shares in the last quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in Q4 worth approximately $109,000. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 108.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 3,475 shares in the bank valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 1,809 shares last quarter. Finally, the Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 16.4% in the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 5,849 shares of the bank valued at $196,000 after acquiring 823 more shares last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds hold 59.08% of the company’s shares.

About Equity Bancshares (Get a rating)

Equity Bancshares, Inc operates as a banking holding company for Equity Bank which provides a range of banking, mortgage banking and financial services to individuals and businesses. The Company accepts various demand, savings, money market and term deposits. Its lending products include commercial and industrial loans, commercial real estate loans, working capital, term loans, equipment finance, acquisitions, expansions and developments, loans, real estate construction, builders housing, agricultural loans, government guaranteed loans and other loans. products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchises, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agri-food companies and other businesses.

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