Equus Total Return, Inc. (EQS) Stock Quote & Options Analysis

Snapshot

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Info

Exchange: XNYS
Market Cap: $0.0B

Equus Total Return Inc is a United States-based closed-end management investment company. The company invests mainly in companies pursuing growth either through acquisition or organically, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and recapitalizations of existing businesses or special situations, and achieves capital appreciation by making investments in equity and equity-oriented securities issued by privately-owned companies or smaller public companies in transactions.

ETF Profile

Asset Allocation

Top Holdings

Symbol	Name	Weight %	Asset Class	Country

Geographic Breakdown

Price History

Seasonality

Month	Avg Return	Years of Data
Jan	+8.42%	6
Feb	-0.94%	6
Mar	+1.69%	6
Apr	-7.45%	6
May	+5.59%	6
Jun	-2.15%	6
Jul	+0.27%	5
Aug	+3.26%	5
Sep	-1.70%	5
Oct	-3.84%	5
Nov	+0.67%	5
Dec	-7.77%	5

Technical Indicators

? Indicator Guide

Quick-reference for reading the values below. Indicators combine to confirm a view — no single one is a trade signal on its own.

Trend Indicators

SMA 20 / 50 / 200 — price above = uptrend, below = downtrend. SMA 50 crossing SMA 200 is the golden/death cross.
EMA 12 / 26 — faster-reacting averages; 12 above 26 is short-term bullish.
MACD — bullish when MACD > signal (green badge), bearish when below. Divergence from price often precedes reversals.
ADX (14) — trend strength regardless of direction. <20 range, 20–25 weak trend, 25–50 trend, >50 strong trend.
+DI / −DI — +DI > −DI favors bulls; the reverse favors bears. Read alongside ADX.

Momentum Oscillators

RSI (14) — <30 oversold, >70 overbought. 40–60 is neutral; trending names can stay extreme.
Stochastic %K / %D — <20 oversold, >80 overbought. %K crossing %D is an early momentum signal.
Williams %R — inverted scale: <−80 oversold, >−20 overbought.

Oscillators work best in range-bound markets; in strong trends they give premature reversal signals.

Volume & Volatility

Bollinger Bands — price at upper band = overbought, lower = oversold. Narrow bands (squeeze) often precede expansion.
OBV — cumulative volume; rising OBV confirms uptrend, falling OBV confirms downtrend. Divergence from price is a warning.
Vol SMA 20 / Vol ROC — today's volume vs. 20-day average. Positive ROC with price move = conviction.
ATR / True Range — average daily $ move; sizing and stop-loss reference.
HV 20 / 30 / 60 — realized (historical) volatility. Compare to IV on the options cards: IV > HV = rich premium.

Confluence matters: trend + momentum + volume agreeing carries far more weight than any single indicator. For how these feed the spread scanner score, see the algorithm docs →

Trend Indicators

SMA 20: $1.38

SMA 50: $1.34

SMA 200: $1.68

Current: $1.27

EMA 12: $1.33

EMA 26: $1.35

MACD: -0.0164 | Signal: -0.0175

BULLISH

ADX (14): 12.68

RANGE

+DI: 24.82

−DI: 27.27

Momentum Oscillators

RSI (14): 42.35

NEUTRAL

Stoch %K: 3.57

Stoch %D: 15.11

Williams %R: -94.12

Volume & Volatility

BB Upper: $1.53

BB Lower: $1.22

NEUTRAL

OBV: 1,808,608

Vol SMA 20: 12,038

Vol ROC: 24.90%

ATR: $0.08

True Range: $0.05

HV 20: 75.8%

HV 30: 75.4%

HV 60: 75.2%

Data Summary

Data Points: 500

Last Updated: 2026-06-13T13:41:28.842000

Date Range: 2024-05-21T00:00:00 – 2026-06-12T00:00:00

AI Analysis

Choose Frenzy-Fast™ for quick analysis or Frenzy-Pro™ for comprehensive analysis.

Analysis includes technical indicators, news sentiment, risk assessment, and specific price levels to watch.

News

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Earnings History

Options Activity

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Options Chain

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Spread Scanner GPU

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? Score Guide Full Algorithm Docs ↗

Each spread is ranked by a composite score built in three stages. Full documentation →

Stage 1 — Base Score (GPU scanner)

score = P(profit) × (credit / spread_width)
P(profit) from short leg delta (1 − |delta|), penalised above 85%. Credit uses mid-price to handle illiquid chains fairly.

Stage 2 — Skew Adjustment (±25% cap)

RR25 and BF25 from the live options chain. Put skew boosts bull puts, penalises bear calls. High butterfly boosts iron condors. Calendars are skew-neutral.

Stage 3 — Technical Overlay (±50% cap, 5 groups)

Group 1 · Directional Bias (±0.25)

RSI <40 bullish / >60 bearish
MACD crossover + histogram trend
Price vs SMA 50 & SMA 200

Group 2 · Momentum (±0.10)

Stochastic %K <20 / >80
Williams %R <−80 / >−20

Group 3 · Volatility (up to −0.25 / +0.15)

Blended ATR + straddle expected-move penalty
Bollinger Band signal (+ counter-trend penalty)
BB width — vol contraction boost for ICs

Group 4 · IV Regime (±0.15)

IV rank ≥ 75 → strong boost for credit spreads
IV rank < 25 → penalty (selling cheap vol)

Group 5 · Liquidity (penalty up to −0.10)

Min open interest across all legs
OI < 100 → −0.10 · OI < 500 → −0.05

score = base_score × skew_multiplier × tech_multiplier
Both multipliers are shown per spread. Beta is informational only — ATR already captures realized vol. Full algorithm documentation →

Enter a ticker to scan for optimal spread opportunities.

Evaluates all bull put, bear call, iron condor, and calendar spread combinations using GPU-accelerated analysis.

Dealer Positioning

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Volatility Surface

Enter a ticker to render the implied volatility surface.

Skew Metrics per Expiry ? Guide

Risk Reversal (RR)

IV(10% OTM call) − IV(10% OTM put)

Measures the direction of skew — which side the market is paying up for. Expressed as a vol difference in percentage points.

−3% to −10% → mild to moderate put skew. Normal for most large-cap stocks — puts always carry some premium from portfolio hedging demand.
−10% to −20% → strong put skew. Elevated fear, heavy hedging, or an upcoming catalyst (earnings, macro event). Worth noting.
Below −20% → extreme put skew. Stress signal — market aggressively buying downside protection.
−3% to 0% → nearly symmetric. Rare for equities; means the market sees roughly equal up/down risk.
Positive → calls more expensive than puts. Unusual — signals strong upside momentum, short squeeze risk, or takeover speculation.

Butterfly (BF)

½ × (IV call + IV put) − IV ATM

Measures curvature — how much the wings are bid up relative to ATM. Always expressed as a positive number (wing premium). Think of it as the cost of a tail hedge above and beyond the ATM vol.

0% to 2% → flat smile. Market pricing near-normal return distribution, low tail risk.
2% to 5% → moderate wing premium. Some tail risk priced in — typical in earnings cycles or elevated VIX environments.
Above 5% → high curvature. Fat tails aggressively priced — market expects a large move but is uncertain of direction. Very common right before earnings.

Reading them together

RR	BF	Interpretation
-15%	+5%	Strong put skew + fat tails — fear or upcoming catalyst (earnings, FDA)
-5%	+1%	Normal mild put skew, calm market
-20%	+8%	Extreme fear — heavy hedging, major event risk
~0%	+2%	Balanced market, no strong directional bias
+5%	+3%	Call skew — bullish momentum or short squeeze risk

Expiry	DTE	ATM IV	25d Put IV	25d Call IV	Risk Reversal	Butterfly	Interpretation	Strategy Suggestions (hover for rationale)

IV Rank (7 DTE)

IV Rank (30 DTE)

Straddle Price (30 DTE)

Beta Analysis

Beta (1Y vs SPY): 0.25
Correlation (SPY): 5.2%
R²: 0.00
Ann. Volatility: 58.8%
SPY Volatility: 12.4%

Low volatility - stock moves less than market

Beta & Alpha Over Time

Institutional Ownership (13F)

Latest filings — 2026-03-31

? 13F Guide

Institutional managers with $100M+ AUM file Form 13F-HR quarterly, due 45 days after quarter end. Holdings are reported gross at quarter-end market value — they are a snapshot, not a real-time position.

Shares — long equity positions in this name, aggregated across share classes.
Calls / Puts — notional value of long call / put exposure where this ticker is the underlying.
% of Float — holder's reported shares divided by the latest diluted shares outstanding. Sums above 100% indicate large custodian / prime broker positions where the same shares are reported by multiple filers.
Custodian badge — filers with more than 5,000 holdings are typically broker-dealers / custodians reporting customer-held shares, not active managers.

Each filer is counted once at its latest 13F-HR filing. New filings are ingested on a weekly cadence.

8 filers125,469 shares$211.83K value

#	Filer	Shares	Value	% of Total	% of Float	Period
1	SHUFRO ROSE & CO LLC	31,287	$57.57K	27.18%	—	2026-03-31
2	MORGAN STANLEY Custodian	35,666	$50.46K	23.82%	—	2025-12-31
3	MSH Capital Advisors LLC	21,666	$39.87K	18.82%	—	2026-03-31
4	SCHWARZ DYGOS WHEELER INVESTMENT ADVISORS LLC	20,000	$36.80K	17.37%	—	2026-03-31
5	BLUE BELL PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC	9,102	$12.88K	6.08%	—	2025-12-31
6	OSAIC HOLDINGS, INC. Custodian	4,947	$9.10K	4.30%	—	2026-03-31
7	NBC SECURITIES, INC.	2,800	$5.15K	2.43%	—	2026-03-31
8	WELLS FARGO & COMPANY/MN Custodian	1	$1	<0.01%	—	2026-03-31

#	Filer	Notional Value	% of Total	Period

#	Filer	Notional Value	% of Total	Period

Insider Activity

Latest: 2025-09-30

Form 4 filings — insider beneficial-ownership changes by officers, directors, and 10%+ holders. Filed within 2 business days of transaction.

Filed	Reporter	Role	Action	Shares	Avg Price	Net $	Link
2025-09-30	Kenneth I Denos	Secretary	Award (A)	+66,841	$2.51	$167.8K	EDGAR
2025-09-17	Kenneth I Denos	Secretary	Award (A)	+250,000	$2.51	$627.5K	EDGAR
2025-09-17	John A. Hardy	CEO	Award (A)	+133,682	$2.51	$335.5K	EDGAR
2023-07-18	ROBERT L KNAUSS	Director	Buy (P)	+1,000	$1.48	$1.5K	EDGAR
2021-10-01	Pallieres Bertrand des	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−1,844,259	$2.40	-$4.43M	EDGAR
2021-05-03	Fraser Atkinson	Director	Buy (P)	+24,202	$1.89	$45.8K	EDGAR
2020-07-17	MVC CAPITAL, INC.	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−3,228,024	$1.17	-$3.78M	EDGAR
2020-07-17	MICHAEL T TOKARZ	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−3,228,024	$1.17	-$3.78M	EDGAR
2020-07-17	Tokarz Group Advisers LLC	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−3,228,024	$1.17	-$3.78M	EDGAR
2020-07-17	John A. Hardy	CEO	Buy (P)	+3,228,024	$1.17	$3.78M	EDGAR
2019-08-13	MICHAEL T TOKARZ	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−608,310	$1.62	-$985.5K	EDGAR
2019-08-13	MVC CAPITAL, INC.	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−608,310	$1.62	-$985.5K	EDGAR
2019-08-13	Tokarz Group Advisers LLC	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−608,310	$1.62	-$985.5K	EDGAR
2019-07-30	MICHAEL T TOKARZ	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−608,310	$1.70	-$1.03M	EDGAR
2019-07-30	Tokarz Group Advisers LLC	10%+ Owner	Sell (S)	−608,310	$1.70	-$1.03M	EDGAR

Codes: P = open-market purchase · S = open-market sale · A = grant/award · M = option exercise · F = tax withholding at vest · G = bona-fide gift · D = disposition to issuer · J = other (described in filing footnote — typically 401(k), trust, inheritance) · W = will/inheritance. Only P / S codes carry directional signal.

Insider Holdings

17 insiders · @ $1.27

Officers, directors, and 10%+ owners ranked by current disclosed exposure (shares × today's price). Shares are direct + indirect (via trusts / LLCs / spouse). Excludes unvested RSU and option grants — those aren't beneficially owned until vest.

#	Insider	Role	Shares	Disclosed Exposure	Lifetime OM Net	Filings	Last Filed
1	John A. Hardy	CEO	4,361,706	$5.54M	$4.98M	3	2025-09-17
2	Pallieres Bertrand des	Director	2,545,125	$3.23M	$925.8K	13	2021-10-01
3	Moore, Clayton & Co., Inc.	Director	1,424,821	$1.81M	-$240.25B	8	2009-10-07
4	Alessandro Benedetti	Executive Chairman	1,362,962	$1.73M	$1.10M	1	2011-09-07
5	Fraser Atkinson	Director	1,003,819	$1.27M	$96.6K	4	2021-05-03
6	Mobiquity Investments Ltd	Director	970,087	$1.23M	$579.0K	6	2011-12-08
7	Versatile Systems Inc.	Director	959,462	$1.22M	$62.6K	2	2010-12-23
8	Kenneth I Denos	Secretary	598,349	$759.9K	-$6.36M	13	2025-09-30
9	SAM P DOUGLASS	CEO	551,802	$700.8K	$286.3K	4	2008-04-09
10	Sharon Clayton	Director	357,458	$454.0K	-$240.25B	7	2009-08-04
11	Anthony R Moore	Director	357,458	$454.0K	-$240.25B	7	2009-08-04
12	Paula Terry Douglass	Vice President	98,127	$124.6K	$286.3K	4	2008-04-09
13	ROBERT L KNAUSS	Director	93,670	$119.0K	$102.3K	9	2023-07-18
14	Henry W Hankinson	Director	19,500	$24.8K	$46.8K	1	2017-03-17
15	Richard F Bergner	Director	19,500	$24.8K	$93.6K	2	2017-03-27
16	GREGORY J FLANAGAN	Chairman, President and C.E.O.	5,914	$7.5K	-$9.1K	9	2010-06-07
17	ALAN D FEINSILVER	Director	5,500	$7.0K	-$61.3K	1	2007-05-25

Lifetime OM Net = signed sum of open-market buys (P) and sells (S) over their career; excludes grants, tax withholdings, and dispositions to issuer. A large negative number is normal for long-tenured executives — they've sold compensation grants over many years.

Recent SEC Filings

Current reports — material events the company must disclose within 4 business days (earnings releases, M&A, executive changes, etc.).

Filing Date	Accession	Link

Annual report — audited financial statements, MD&A, risk factors. Filed 60–90 days after fiscal year-end.

Filing Date	Accession	Link

Quarterly report — unaudited financials and MD&A. Filed 40–45 days after each of the first three fiscal quarters.

Filing Date	Accession	Link

ETF Holders

#	ETF	Provider	Weight	$ Exposure	ETF AUM	As Of

Fundamentals

? Fundamentals Guide

Quarterly filings sourced from SEC 10-Q / 10-K reports. TTM tiles aggregate the most recent four quarters; bars show the last ~12 quarters oldest → newest.

Metrics

Revenue — top-line sales. Look for consistent YoY growth; seasonal businesses need same-quarter comparisons (Q4 '24 vs Q4 '23).
Net Income — bottom-line profit after all expenses. Can be volatile from one-time items; red bars = net loss.
Diluted EPS — net income per share assuming options/converts are exercised. Direct input to the P/E ratio.
Operating Cash Flow — cash generated from core operations, before capex and financing. Harder to manipulate than net income; growing OCF is a quality signal.

How to read the bars

Sequential growth — quarter-over-quarter trend. Accelerating bars are a momentum signal.
YoY growth — compare to the same quarter a year earlier to remove seasonality.
Quality — OCF should roughly track Net Income over time. Large divergence (net income ≫ OCF) flags accruals risk.
Margins — scan the bar ratios: Net Income / Revenue tells you margin trend without needing a separate chart.

TTM (trailing-twelve-month) smooths seasonality and is used for the P/E calculation. Filings appear 30–90 days after the period closes.

Valuation

? Valuation Guide

Ratios derived from TTM financials and the current market price, sampled daily. History chart shows how expensive the stock is today relative to its own recent past.

Price Multiples

P/E — price / TTM earnings. Rough market rule: 10–15 value, 15–25 market, >30 growth/premium. Negative when earnings are negative.
P/B — price / book value. Useful for financials and asset-heavy names; meaningless for asset-light software.
P/S — price / TTM revenue. Useful when earnings are negative or noisy (early-stage growth).
EV/EBITDA — capital-structure-neutral. <10 cheap, 10–15 reasonable, >20 rich. Good for comparing across leverage profiles.
EV/Sales — like P/S but accounts for debt + cash. Compare within sector.

Profitability & Yields

ROE — return on equity. >15% strong, >25% exceptional. Caution: high leverage inflates ROE.
ROA — return on assets. Leverage-neutral; >5% solid, >10% exceptional.
Div Yield — annual dividend / price. Compare to 10Y Treasury; sustained yield >6% often signals distress.
FCF Yield — free cash flow / market cap. >5% is attractive; negative means burning cash.

Balance Sheet

Debt/Equity — leverage. <1 conservative, >2 aggressive. Sector-dependent (utilities naturally high, tech low).
Current Ratio — short-term liquidity. >1.5 comfortable, <1 raises short-term solvency flags.

Reading the history chart

Compare current level to the 3-year band: near the high end = relatively expensive; near the low = relatively cheap.
Multiples expanding while earnings are flat = sentiment-driven rally.
Multiples compressing while earnings grow = value coming from fundamentals.

Metric:

Short Interest & Float

? Short Interest Guide

Regulatory short-interest reports publish on a bi-weekly settlement cadence; short-volume is reported daily by the trade-reporting facilities. Float is derived from insider-ownership filings.

Metric definitions

Short Interest — total shares currently sold short as of the settlement date. Lags real time by ~8 business days.
SI % of Float — short interest / free float. The key crowding metric.
Days to Cover — short interest / avg daily volume. How many full trading days it would take shorts to buy back. High DTC + catalyst = squeeze fuel.
Short Vol Ratio — today's short-sale volume / total volume. Intraday selling pressure proxy (not the same as short interest).
Free Float — shares available for public trading (total shares minus insider / restricted).
Float % — free float / shares outstanding. <50% = tightly held, more prone to squeezes.

How to read the signals

SI % of Float < 5% — typical, no particular signal.
5–15% — elevated; watch for catalysts (earnings, guidance, macro).
15–30% — heavily shorted; tight-float names in this range have produced notable squeezes historically.
>30% — extreme; borrow is likely expensive and squeeze risk is material.
Days to Cover > 5 combined with high SI% amplifies squeeze potential.

History chart

Trend matters more than level. Rapidly rising short interest often precedes negative catalysts or heavy hedging.
A sudden drop in SI after a rally may indicate a squeeze in progress.

Short interest is reported mid-month and end-of-month; short volume is daily.

Metric:

Constituent Performance

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Click any bar to view the full quote for that stock.

Constituents

Symbol	Price	1 Day	1 Week	1 Month

Equus Total Return, Inc.(EQS)

Overlays

Oscillators (sub-panels)

Trend Indicators

Momentum Oscillators

Volume & Volatility

Data Summary