Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) Shares Gap Up to $31.84

Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $31.84, but opened at $33.15. Equity Bancshares shares last traded at $33.13, with a volume of 4,387 shares changing hands.

Equity Bancshares Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $479.72 million, a P/E ratio of 51.78 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $30.38.

Equity Bancshares (NASDAQ:EQBK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The bank reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.12. The business had revenue of ($3.95) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.67 million. Equity Bancshares had a return on equity of 12.27% and a net margin of 3.88%. On average, equities analysts expect that Equity Bancshares, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Equity Bancshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. Equity Bancshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 80.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 959 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $30,822.26. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 29,147 shares in the company, valued at approximately $936,784.58. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Equity Bancshares news, General Counsel Brett A. Reber sold 959 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total transaction of $30,822.26. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 29,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $936,784.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Julie A. Huber sold 1,050 shares of Equity Bancshares stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.14, for a total value of $33,747.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,918 shares in the company, valued at $1,829,344.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,478 shares of company stock worth $268,894 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 40.4% in the 4th quarter. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co NY now owns 1,113 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 406.0% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,189 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Rocky Mountain Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equity Bancshares in the 4th quarter valued at about $69,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 153.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,162 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its stake in shares of Equity Bancshares by 530.7% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,756 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the period. 71.80% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Equity Bancshares

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.