The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Lowers Stock Holdings in Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 333,770 shares of the bank’s stock after selling 8,862 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $13,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EQBK. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 3rd quarter worth $203,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 74.1% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,052 shares of the bank’s stock worth $207,000 after purchasing an additional 2,150 shares in the last quarter. Triune Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the third quarter valued at about $268,000. AQR Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Equity Bancshares in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Finally, ELCO Management Co. LLC increased its position in Equity Bancshares by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. ELCO Management Co. LLC now owns 13,673 shares of the bank’s stock worth $481,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

NASDAQ EQBK opened at $47.99 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $43.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.32. The company has a market capitalization of $733.77 million, a P/E ratio of 43.63 and a beta of 0.89. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.92 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.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The bank reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.32. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 13.53% and a net margin of 6.36%. The business had revenue of $55.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.77 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This is a positive change from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stephens upgraded Equity Bancshares from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 14th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Equity Bancshares from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brad S. Elliott sold 2,300 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 151,979 shares in the company, valued at $6,480,384.56. This represents a 1.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon Borck acquired 1,467 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.77 per share, with a total value of $56,875.59. Following the transaction, the director now owns 11,941 shares in the company, valued at $462,952.57. This represents a 14.01 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

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.