Loblaw Companies Limited Buys 16,000 Shares of EQB (TSE:EQB) Stock

EQB Inc. (TSE:EQB) insider Loblaw Companies Limited bought 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were bought at an average price of C$130.24 per share, with a total value of C$2,083,840.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider directly owned 1,580,100 shares in the company, valued at C$205,792,224. This trade represents a 1.02% increase in their ownership of the stock.

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

• On Thursday, September 10th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average cost of C$128.16 per share, for a total transaction of C$2,050,560.00.
• On Monday, August 31st, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average price of C$126.79 per share, with a total value of C$2,028,640.00.
• On Wednesday, September 2nd, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was bought at an average price of C$127.81 per share, with a total value of C$2,044,960.00.
• On Thursday, September 3rd, Loblaw Companies Limited acquired 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$133.12 per share, with a total value of C$1,064,960.00.
• On Monday, August 24th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$133.47 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,067,760.00.
• On Wednesday, August 26th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$137.01 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,096,080.00.
• On Thursday, August 27th, Loblaw Companies Limited bought 16,000 shares of EQB stock. The stock was purchased at an average cost of C$124.91 per share, for a total transaction of C$1,998,560.00.
• On Thursday, August 20th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$134.00 per share, with a total value of C$1,072,000.00.
• On Tuesday, August 4th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$142.40 per share, with a total value of C$1,139,200.00.
• On Thursday, August 6th, Loblaw Companies Limited purchased 8,000 shares of EQB stock. The shares were purchased at an average cost of C$137.62 per share, with a total value of C$1,100,960.00.

EQB Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of EQB stock opened at C$129.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of C$5.52 billion, a PE ratio of -462.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.83. EQB Inc. has a 12-month low of C$83.93 and a 12-month high of C$150.32. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is C$136.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$124.43.

EQB (TSE:EQB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The company reported C$2.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$393.04 million for the quarter. EQB had a negative net margin of 0.08% and a negative return on equity of 0.07%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that EQB Inc. will post 12.5988235 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EQB Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. This is a boost from EQB’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. EQB’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -828.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EQB. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce cut their price objective on EQB from C$165.00 to C$154.00 and set an “outperformer” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on EQB from C$131.00 to C$146.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Desjardins dropped their price target on EQB from C$155.00 to C$150.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 28th. TD lifted their price target on shares of EQB from C$123.00 to C$154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of EQB from C$128.00 to C$127.00 in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of C$139.10.

About EQB

EQB Inc (TSX: EQB) is a leading Canadian financial services company with approximately $151 billion in combined assets under management and administration. It is the parent company of Equitable Bank, the country’s seventh largest Schedule I bank by assets, which operates EQ Bank, Canada’s Challenger Bank. Our purpose is to remake banking so every Canadian gets ahead, every day. Since 1970, we have built thoughtful financial solutions that serve more than 4 million customers, turning everyday moments into meaningful progress.