EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is C$104.44.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EQB shares. CIBC increased their price target on EQB from C$100.00 to C$110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of EQB from C$111.00 to C$113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 31st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of EQB from C$98.00 to C$101.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of EQB from C$102.00 to C$104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on EQB from C$107.00 to C$109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th.

EQB Stock Performance

Shares of EQB stock opened at C$94.35 on Wednesday. EQB has a fifty-two week low of C$66.41 and a fifty-two week high of C$97.64. The company has a 50 day moving average price of C$87.80 and a 200 day moving average price of C$87.91. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.63.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 29th. The company reported C$2.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of C$2.71 by C($0.04). The business had revenue of C$316.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$300.40 million. EQB had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 39.67%. On average, research analysts forecast that EQB will post 11.5759669 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. EQB’s payout ratio is 18.05%.

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.