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Equity Bancshares
(NYSE:EQBK)
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Rating:67Neutral
Price Target:
$54.00
â–²(8.50% Upside)
Action:Reiterated
Date:09/14/26
EQBK’s score is primarily supported by improving fundamentals (re-accelerating revenue and stronger free cash flow) and a constructive earnings-call backdrop (strong core profitability, loan growth, and better efficiency). The score is held back by a mostly neutral technical setup and valuation metrics (P/E ~28 with a modest ~1.44% yield), along with ongoing asset-quality and potential margin-compression watch items noted by management.
Positive Factors
Organic loan growth and pipeline
Record loan production and a growing pipeline indicate durable demand for Equity Bank’s commercial and consumer lending franchise. Continued expansion in non-acquired markets provides an organic growth engine that can complement acquisition-led scale and support future interest income.
Negative Factors
Elevated nonperforming and classified assets
Rising nonperforming assets and elevated classified assets indicate that credit risk remains a meaningful ongoing issue, particularly within inherited portfolios. If these exposures deteriorate further, higher provisions, charge-offs, or management attention could reduce earnings and constrain lending capacity.
Read all positive and negative factors
Positive Factors
Negative Factors
Organic loan growth and pipeline
Record loan production and a growing pipeline indicate durable demand for Equity Bank’s commercial and consumer lending franchise. Continued expansion in non-acquired markets provides an organic growth engine that can complement acquisition-led scale and support future interest income.
Read all positive factors
Equity Bancshares (EQBK) vs. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Market Cap
$972.58M
Dividend Yield1.61%
Average Volume (3M)102.28K
Price to Earnings (P/E)26.5
Beta (1Y)0.72
Revenue Growth10.85%
EPS Growth-58.49%
CountryUS
Employees909
SectorFinancial
Sector Strength70
IndustryBanks - Regional
Share Statistics
EPS (TTM)1.78
Shares Outstanding20,592,490
10 Day Avg. Volume104,428
30 Day Avg. Volume102,280
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 Cap1.04
Enterprise Value/Revenue2.66
Enterprise Value/Gross Profit5.04
Enterprise Value/Ebitda9.17
Forecast
1Y Price Target
$55.00Price Target Upside10.51% 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 net interest income and noninterest income. Net interest income is earned from the spread between (1) interest and fees collected on earning assets—primarily comm...
Equity Bancshares Earnings Call Summary
Earnings Call Date:Jul 14, 2026
(Q2-2026)
| % Change Since: |
Next Earnings Date:Oct 14, 2026
Earnings Call Sentiment Positive
The call highlights strong operational and financial progress following recent acquisitions: record loan production, improving margins, a rising efficiency ratio, robust pipeline growth, healthy capital ratios, and early but broad AI adoption. Challenges are present — mainly related to acquired-portfolio runoff/optimization, an uptick in nonperforming assets and modest securities losses — but management characterizes these as manageable, largely transitory, and offset by organic growth momentum and expense discipline.Positive Updates
Strong Earnings and Core Profitability
GAAP EPS of $1.27 and core EPS of $1.41; GAAP ROTCE 16.6% and core ROTCE 17.2%, demonstrating robust profitability after merger-related noise was removed.
Negative Updates
Elevated Nonperforming Assets
Nonperforming assets increased from 76 basis points to 86 basis points of total assets quarter-over-quarter, in part due to credits inherited from Frontier that are being actively worked through.
Read all updates
Q2-2026 Updates
Positive
Negative
Strong Earnings and Core Profitability
GAAP EPS of $1.27 and core EPS of $1.41; GAAP ROTCE 16.6% and core ROTCE 17.2%, demonstrating robust profitability after merger-related noise was removed.
Read all positive updates
Company Guidance
Management guided that 2H26 average earning assets should expand to $6.85–$6.95 billion while cautioning net interest margin (4.36% this quarter, +3 bps) may modestly compress as accretion burns down (loan accretion was $2.9M, ~17 bps); net interest income was $73.9M and pretax, pre-provision adjusted net revenue was $36.4M. For the second half they expect noninterest income of $18–$22M and noninterest expense of $94–$98M (efficiency ratio improved to 53.4% this quarter). Operationally they closed $315M of loans at a 6.56% average rate, report a $1.6B pipeline (+23% q/q) with $475M at 75% probability, and reiterated quarterly results of GAAP EPS $1.27 (core EPS $1.41), ROTCE 16.6% (core 17.2%), $7.7B assets, TCE 9.07%, CET1 11.84%, total capital 14.66%, tangible book $33.45, a $0.18 dividend, and 711k shares repurchased YTD at $44.84.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
Negative
49.77
Price Trends
49.29
Negative
48.58
Negative
46.78
Positive
Market Momentum
-0.61
Positive
40.76
Neutral
45.73
Neutral
Evaluating momentum and price trends is crucial in stock analysis to make informed investment decisions. For EQBK, the sentiment is Negative. The current price of 49.77 is above the 20-day moving average (MA) of 47.89, above the 50-day MA of 49.29, and above the 200-day MA of 46.78, indicating a neutral trend. The MACD of -0.61 indicates Positive momentum. The RSI at 40.76 is Neutral, neither overbought nor oversold. The STOCH value of 45.73 is Neutral, not indicating any strong overbought or oversold conditions. Overall, these indicators collectively point to a Negative 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
80 Outperform | $805.37M | 11.19 | 12.36% | 1.59% | 6.55% | 14.68% | |
73 Outperform | $1.60B | 16.06 | 7.97% | 1.54% | 3.63% | 43.62% | |
73 Outperform | $1.00B | 10.93 | 9.85% | 1.95% | 8.88% | 11.73% | |
68 Neutral | $18.00B | 11.42 | 9.92% | 3.81% | 9.73% | 1.22% | |
67 Neutral | $972.58M | 26.53 | 4.64% | 1.61% | 10.85% | -58.49% | |
64 Neutral | $1.69B | 14.81 | 6.47% | 3.34% | 8.27% | -23.33% | |
63 Neutral | $776.00M | 10.92 | 12.54% | 1.45% | 3.70% | 24.24% |
* Financial Sector Average
EQBK
Equity Bancshares
47.23
7.43
18.67%
SMBC
Southern Missouri Bancorp
70.46
20.71
41.64%
NBHC
National Bank Holdings
38.05
2.12
5.91%
OBK
Origin Bancorp
51.87
19.02
57.89%
BFST
Business First Bancshares
30.82
8.10
35.66%
SPFI
South Plains Financial
42.75
5.37
14.37%
Equity Bancshares Corporate Events
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...
Business Operations and StrategyStock BuybackDividendsFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Equity Bancshares posts strong Q2 2026 earnings momentum
Positive
Jul 15, 2026
Equity Bancshares reported strong second-quarter 2026 results on July 14, 2026, with net income rising to $26.4 million, or $1.27 per diluted share, and core EPS of $1.41, underscoring robust earnings momentum following the Frontier acquisition cl...
Business Operations and StrategyFinancial DisclosuresM&A Transactions
Equity Bancshares Highlights Transformational Growth to Investors
Positive
Jun 17, 2026
On June 17, 2026, Equity Bancshares planned to meet with certain institutional investors, using an investor presentation that outlines a year of transformation driven by both acquisitions and organic growth. The company highlighted its expanded fo...
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.