EQB (TSE:EQB) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from C$106.00 to C$119.00. The stock traded as high as C$109.80 and last traded at C$109.33, with a volume of 28101 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$107.87.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$110.00 to C$106.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Cormark reduced their price target on shares of EQB from C$121.00 to C$111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. CIBC lifted their price target on shares of EQB from C$105.00 to C$113.00 in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of EQB from C$113.00 to C$109.00 in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on shares of EQB from C$112.00 to C$109.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$108.00.

EQB Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of C$105.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$96.43. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a PEG ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.59.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 28th. The company reported C$2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$2.93 by C$0.03. EQB had a return on equity of 14.70% and a net margin of 39.67%. The firm had revenue of C$327.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of C$325.00 million. On average, sell-side analysts expect that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This is a positive change from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.73%. EQB’s payout ratio is presently 19.75%.

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.