Equity BancShares Inc (EQBK): Is It A Good Stock to Buy?

Earlier we told you that the aggregate hedge fund interest in the stock was unchanged and we view this as a negative development. Even though there weren’t any hedge funds dumping their holdings during the third quarter, there weren’t any hedge funds initiating brand new positions either. This indicates that hedge funds, at the very best, perceive this stock as dead money and they haven’t identified any viable catalysts that can attract investor attention.

Let’s now take a look at hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Equity BancShares Inc (NASDAQ:EQBK) but similarly valued. These stocks are MCBC Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MCFT), Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation (NASDAQ:GLDD), Vishay Precision Group Inc (NYSE:VPG), and Veracyte Inc (NASDAQ:VCYT). This group of stocks’ market valuations match EQBK’s market valuation.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 11 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $47 million. That figure was $34 million in EQBK’s case. MCBC Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:MCFT) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Veracyte Inc (NASDAQ:VCYT) is the least popular one with only 8 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Equity BancShares Inc (NASDAQ:EQBK) is even less popular than VCYT. Considering that hedge funds aren’t fond of this stock in relation to other companies analyzed in this article, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and understand why the smart money isn’t behind this stock.

Disclosure: None