Loblaw Companies Limited Acquires 6,100 Shares of EQB (TSE:EQB) Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of C$143.88 per share, for a total transaction of C$877,668.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 1,226,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$176,411,268. The trade was a 0.50% increase in their ownership of the stock.

Loblaw Companies Limited also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, July 17th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$144.62 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,156,960.00.
• On Monday, July 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average price of C$141.57 per share, with a total value of C$1,132,560.00.

EQB Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of EQB stock opened at C$139.62 on Wednesday. EQB Inc. has a twelve month low of C$83.93 and a twelve month high of C$150.32. The stock has a market cap of C$4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a 50 day moving average of C$125.73 and a 200 day moving average of C$117.47.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 27th. The company reported C$2.03 EPS for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$302.36 million for the quarter. EQB had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 6.61%. On average, research analysts predict that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a $0.61 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. This is an increase from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.01%.

Key Headlines Impacting EQB

Here are the key news stories impacting EQB this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loblaw Companies Limited bought 6,100 shares of EQB at an average price of C$143.88, signaling continued insider confidence after previously adding shares on July 17 and July 20. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent purchases totaling 8,000 shares on both July 17 and July 20 reinforce the idea that a major shareholder sees value in EQB at current levels. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The buying activity may help support sentiment because Loblaw now owns more than 1.25 million EQB shares, a position valued at roughly C$177 million, which investors may read as a vote of confidence in the company’s outlook. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on EQB shares. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of EQB from C$127.00 to C$123.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 29th. TD lowered their target price on shares of EQB from C$132.00 to C$123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. National Bank Financial set a C$120.00 target price on EQB and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on EQB from C$122.00 to C$125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Desjardins lifted their price target on EQB from C$130.00 to C$132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of C$122.50.

About EQB

EQB Inc formerly Equitable Group Inc trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange TSX: EQB and EQB.PR.C and serves over 360000 Canadians through its wholly owned subsidiary Equitable Bank Canadas Challenger Bank. Equitable Bank has grown to become the countrys eighth largest independent Schedule I bank with a clear mandate to drive real change in Canadian banking to enrich peoples lives. At Equitable Bank we are as invested in our employees as we are in our business. Thats why we are consistently recognized as one of Canadas Top Employers a rating that comes from our 1300+ employees.