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Equity Bancshares
(NYSE:EQBK)
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Rating:67Neutral
Price Target:
$51.00
â–²(2.47% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:10/16/26
EQBK scores positively on improving fundamentals (re-accelerating revenue growth and stronger free cash flow) and supportive valuation (low P/E with a dividend). The main constraint on the overall score is weak technical momentum (below key moving averages with negative MACD) alongside banking-specific pressures emphasized on the call—particularly deposit mix decline and net interest margin headwinds, even as management remains constructive on growth and the Lincoln transaction.
Positive Factors
Organic loan growth
Strong legacy-market loan growth and record production indicate improving customer demand and sales execution across the franchise. A growing pipeline and higher loan balances can support recurring interest income, while diversified commercial relationships may strengthen the bank’s long-term market position.
Negative Factors
Deposit and funding pressure
Falling deposits and a weaker noninterest-bearing mix raise funding costs and reduce the benefit of low-cost relationship balances. Continued competition for rate-sensitive customers could constrain loan growth, increase reliance on expensive funding, and make earnings less stable.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Organic loan growth
Strong legacy-market loan growth and record production indicate improving customer demand and sales execution across the franchise. A growing pipeline and higher loan balances can support recurring interest income, while diversified commercial relationships may strengthen the bank’s long-term market position.
Read all positive factors
Equity Bancshares (EQBK) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$1.01B
Dividend Yield1.55%
Average Volume (3M)132.24K
Price to Earnings (P/E)10.6
Beta (1Y)0.68
Revenue Growth52.78%
EPS Growth266.60%
CountryUS
Employees909
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryBanks - Regional
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)1.78
Shares Outstanding20,592,490
10 Day Avg. Volume183,709
30 Day Avg. Volume132,235
Financial Highlights & Ratios
PEG Ratio-0.52
Price to Book (P/B)1.16
Price to Sales (P/S)2.70
P/FCF Ratio22.30
Enterprise Value/Market Cap1.18
Enterprise Value/Revenue3.12
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit5.91
Enterprise Value/Ebitda10.76
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$54.50Price Target Upside9.50% Upside
Rating ConsensusHold
Number of Analyst Covering4
EPS Forecast (FY)4.56
Revenue Forecast (FY)$341.07M
Equity Bancshares Business Overview & Revenue Model
Company Description
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. It accepts demand, savings, money market, and time depos...
How the Company Makes Money
Equity Bancshares primarily makes money through its banking subsidiary by generating (1) net interest income and (2) noninterest income, while managing (3) operating expenses and (4) credit costs.
1) Net interest income (core earnings driver): Th...
Equity Bancshares Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Oct 14, 2026
(Q3-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Jan 27, 2027
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call was predominantly positive, supported by record loan production, nearly 12% annualized legacy-market loan growth, improving production in acquired markets, strong capital, fee-income momentum, progress on the Lincoln merger and confidence in 2027 organic growth. The main challenges were declining deposits and noninterest-bearing deposit mix, pressure on net interest income and margin, higher charge-offs, consumer balance stress, and a decline in reported tangible book value per share due to AOCI. Management remained constructive on credit, growth, technology initiatives and the transaction outlook.Positive Updates
Strong Third-Quarter Earnings and Returns
Net income was $26.8 million, or $1.29 per diluted share. Core net income was $29.0 million, or $1.40 per share, and core return on average tangible common equity was 16.5%.
Negative Updates
Deposit Balance and Mix Declines
Total deposits declined $136 million, or 2.2%, to $6.17 billion. Legacy-market deposits declined $102 million, while noninterest-bearing deposits fell to 18.7% of total deposits from 20.2% in the first quarter. Management said rebuilding the mix and replacing brokered funding with core relationship deposits is a priority.
Read all updates
Q3-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Strong Third-Quarter Earnings and Returns
Net income was $26.8 million, or $1.29 per diluted share. Core net income was $29.0 million, or $1.40 per share, and core return on average tangible common equity was 16.5%.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
For the fourth quarter, excluding Lincoln, Equity expects margin to return to the 4.25% to 4.35% range, noninterest income between $10 million and $11 million, and noninterest expense between $47 million and $48 million; it continues to expect a provision run rate of roughly $1.5 million to $2 million per quarter, depending on loan growth and charge-off levels. Lincoln is expected to close in the fourth quarter, convert on to Equity systems in the second quarter of 2027, and contribute $0.27 to EPS, with half the cost savings realized in the year and 2027 is where the accretion begins; pro forma will be approximately $9.1 billion as a company, with pro forma TCE to total assets of approximately 8.5% and total risk-based capital of approximately 13.4% at close. On an organic basis, single digit upwards of that is something that we can definitely target in 2027, specifically mid-single digit, with somewhere between 5% and 7% something that we can hit as a company, while without the acquisition, we could be actually stronger than that; each additional rate hike adds between 3 and 5 basis points for every 25 basis points, and Lincoln’s impact on run rate margin is 8 to 10 basis points down, or 2 to 3 basis points of degradation based on a December 1 close.Equity Bancshares Financial Statement Overview
Summary
Income Statement
74
Positive
Balance Sheet
67
Positive
Cash Flow
70
Positive
| Breakdown | TTM | Dec 2025 | Dec 2024 | Dec 2023 | Dec 2022 | Dec 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Income Statement | ||||||
| Total Revenue | 381.33M | 314.26M | 326.51M | 224.68M | 220.28M | 186.81M |
| Gross Profit | 201.38M | 158.37M | 217.67M | 135.63M | 194.99M | 180.59M |
| EBITDA | 110.64M | 88.42M | 88.54M | 11.05M | 79.65M | 73.34M |
| Net Income | 35.83M | 22.73M | 62.62M | 7.82M | 57.69M | 52.48M |
Balance Sheet | ||||||
| Total Assets | 7.73B | 6.37B | 5.33B | 5.03B | 4.98B | 5.14B |
| Cash, Cash Equivalents and Short-Term Investments | 1.78B | 1.64B | 1.19B | 1.28B | 1.29B | 1.59B |
| Total Debt | 526.61M | 448.22M | 312.80M | 380.50M | 281.73M | 151.89M |
| Total Liabilities | 6.90B | 5.64B | 4.74B | 4.58B | 4.57B | 4.64B |
| Stockholders Equity | 827.26M | 732.05M | 592.92M | 452.86M | 410.06M | 500.63M |
Cash Flow | ||||||
| Free Cash Flow | 46.49M | 38.11M | 65.35M | 60.39M | 70.58M | 97.60M |
| Operating Cash Flow | 56.00M | 51.37M | 73.84M | 76.53M | 74.07M | 102.70M |
| Investing Cash Flow | 150.07M | 136.92M | 123.73M | 232.17M | -214.18M | -315.34M |
| Financing Cash Flow | -25.74M | 35.79M | -192.93M | -34.03M | -15.41M | 191.90M |
Equity Bancshares Technical Analysis
Positive
49.77
Price Trends
48.66
Positive
48.75
Positive
46.91
Positive
Market Momentum
-0.13
Negative
58.51
Neutral
79.23
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For EQBK, the sentiment is Positive. The current price of 49.77 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 47.43, above the 50-day MA of 48.66, and above the 200-day MA of 46.91, indicating a bullish trend. The MACD of -0.13 indicates Negative momentum. The RSI at 58.51 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 79.23 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Positive sentiment for EQBK.
Equity Bancshares Risk Analysis
Equity Bancshares disclosed 97 risk factors in its most recent earnings report. Equity Bancshares reported the most risks in the "Finance & Corporate" category.
Finance & Corporate - Financial and accounting risks. Risks related to the execution of corporate activity and strategy
Latest Risks Added 0 New Risks
Equity Bancshares Peers Comparison
UnderperformOutperform
Sector (68)
Name | Overall Rating | Market Cap | P/E Ratio | ROE | Dividend Yield | Revenue Growth | EPS Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
75 Outperform | $810.46M | 10.97 | 12.36% | 1.58% | 10.22% | 7.30% | |
73 Outperform | $1.62B | 16.05 | 7.97% | 1.53% | 3.63% | 43.62% | |
73 Outperform | $1.04B | 11.28 | 9.85% | 1.89% | 8.88% | 11.73% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
67 Neutral | $1.01B | 10.56 | 11.56% | 1.55% | 52.78% | 266.60% | |
64 Neutral | $1.72B | 15.13 | 6.47% | 3.27% | 8.27% | -23.33% | |
63 Neutral | $790.51M | 10.59 | 12.91% | 1.42% | 3.10% | 24.24% |
* Financial Sector Average
EQBK
Equity Bancshares
48.88
7.95
19.42%
SMBC
Southern Missouri Bancorp
71.90
19.21
36.46%
NBHC
National Bank Holdings
38.88
2.84
7.87%
OBK
Origin Bancorp
52.45
18.70
55.38%
BFST
Business First Bancshares
31.80
8.05
33.91%
SPFI
South Plains Financial
43.02
6.48
17.75%
Equity Bancshares Corporate Events
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Equity Bancshares Reports Strong Q3 Results, Raises Dividend
Positive
Oct 14, 2026
For the quarter ended September 30, 2026, Equity Bancshares reported net income of $26.8 million, or $1.29 per diluted share, with core earnings of $1.40 per share highlighting strong franchise profitability. Organic loan growth lifted loans held ...
Dividends
Equity Bancshares Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend to Shareholders
Positive
Sep 14, 2026
On September 10, 2026, Equity Bancshares, Inc.’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.22 per share of common stock, continuing its practice of returning capital to shareholders. The dividend is scheduled to be paid on ...
Business Operations and StrategyM&A Transactions
Equity Bancshares to Acquire Lincoln Bancorp, Expand Iowa Presence
Positive
Sep 3, 2026
On September 2, 2026, Equity Bancshares, Inc. agreed to acquire Lincoln Bancorp through a multi-step reorganization in which a new Equity subsidiary will merge into Lincoln, which will then be folded into Equity, followed by the consolidation of L...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackRegulatory Filings and Compliance
Equity Bancshares Wins Fed Nod for New Buyback Plan
Positive
Aug 5, 2026
On May 20, 2026, Equity Bancshares, Inc.’s board of directors approved a new share repurchase plan authorizing the buyback of up to 1,000,000 shares of its outstanding common stock over a one-year period, commencing after the completion or e...
Glossary
BuyA stock rated as a "Buy" is expected to perform better than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock is likely to deliver higher returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
HoldA stock rated as a "Hold" is expected to perform in line with the overall market or a specific benchmark. This rating indicates that the stock is neither particularly compelling nor unfavorable for investment. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
SellA stock rated as a "Sell" is expected to perform worse than the overall market or a specific benchmark over the near-to-medium term. This rating suggests the stock may deliver lower returns compared to other stocks in the same sector or market index. Note: This is not investment advice; please consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions.
Disclaimer
This AI Analyst Stock Report is automatically generated by our AI systems using advanced algorithms and publicly available financial, technical, and market data. While the information provided aims to be accurate and insightful, it is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Any content created by an AI (Artificial Intelligence) system may contain inaccuracies and/or contain errors. Investing in stocks carries inherent risks, and past performance is not indicative of future results. This report does not account for your personal financial circumstances, objectives, or risk tolerance. Always conduct your own research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making investment decisions. The analysis and recommendations provided are based on historical and current data and may not fully reflect future market conditions or unexpected developments. Neither the creators of this report nor its affiliated entities guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented. Use this report at your own discretion and risk.