Head to Head Review: Equity Bancshares (EQBK) versus Its Competitors

Equity Bancshares (NYSE:EQBK) is one of 20 publicly-traded companies in the “State Commercial Banks – Fed Reserve System” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Equity Bancshares to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, dividends, earnings, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

71.8% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 72.2% of shares of all “State Commercial Banks – Fed Reserve System” companies are held by institutional investors. 6.6% of Equity Bancshares shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of shares of all “State Commercial Banks – Fed Reserve System” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Equity Bancshares has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Equity Bancshares’ competitors have a beta of 1.01, indicating that their average share price is 1% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Equity Bancshares pays an annual dividend of $0.72 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Equity Bancshares pays out 60.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “State Commercial Banks – Fed Reserve System” companies pay a dividend yield of 2.3% and pay out 67.3% of their earnings in the form of a dividend.

Profitability

This table compares Equity Bancshares and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equity Bancshares	5.01%	11.67%	1.33%
Equity Bancshares Competitors	7.23%	6.94%	0.79%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Equity Bancshares and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equity Bancshares	0	2	0	1	2.67
Equity Bancshares Competitors	29	165	197	19	2.50

As a group, “State Commercial Banks – Fed Reserve System” companies have a potential upside of 7.33%. Given Equity Bancshares’ competitors higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Equity Bancshares has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Equity Bancshares and its competitors gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equity Bancshares	$335.67 million	$62.62 million	37.76
Equity Bancshares Competitors	$695.33 million	$95.99 million	38.39

Equity Bancshares’ competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Equity Bancshares. Equity Bancshares is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Summary

Equity Bancshares competitors beat Equity Bancshares on 10 of the 15 factors compared.

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-backed, commercial lines of credit, working capital, term, equipment financing, acquisition, expansion and development, borrowing base, real estate construction, homebuilder, agricultural, government guaranteed, and other loan products to national and regional companies, restaurant franchisees, hoteliers, real estate developers, manufacturing and industrial companies, agribusiness companies, and other businesses. The company’s loan products also comprise various consumer loans to individuals and professionals, including residential real estate loans, home equity loans and lines of credit, installment loans, unsecured and secured personal lines of credit, overdraft protection, and letters of credit. It also provides debit cards; online banking solutions, such as access to account balances, online transfers, online bill payment, and electronic delivery of customer statements; mobile banking solutions comprising remote check deposits with mobile bill pay; ATMs; and treasury management, wire transfer, automated clearing house, and stop payment services. In addition, the company offers cash management deposit products, such as lockbox, remote deposit capture, positive pay, reverse positive pay, account reconciliation services, zero balance accounts, and sweep accounts, as well as banking services through telephone, mail, and personal appointments. As of December 31, 2021, it operated a network of 69 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. The company was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.