American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 76,167 Shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. $EQBK

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Equity Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQBK) by 110.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 144,982 shares of the bank’s stock after buying an additional 76,167 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Equity Bancshares were worth $5,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQBK. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equity Bancshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $145,000. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Equity Bancshares in the first quarter valued at approximately $154,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 3,825 shares of the bank’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Equity Bancshares by 80.8% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 6,802 shares of the bank’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 3,040 shares during the period. Finally, Corebridge Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Equity Bancshares by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 7,999 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 869 shares during the last quarter. 71.80% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on EQBK shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Equity Bancshares in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $54.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Equity Bancshares from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Equity Bancshares in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equity Bancshares presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.40.

Equity Bancshares Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ EQBK opened at $44.89 on Friday. Equity Bancshares, Inc. has a one year low of $34.11 and a one year high of $48.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market cap of $856.32 million, a P/E ratio of 11.28 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $41.62 and its 200-day moving average is $40.67.

Equity Bancshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This is an increase from Equity Bancshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Equity Bancshares’s payout ratio is presently 60.00%.

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.