Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) shares reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.34 and last traded at $19.2950, with a volume of 325167 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $19.05.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on EBC shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $23.00 price target on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday. Cowen began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.50.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $18.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $4.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.42 and a beta of 0.83.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $162.26 million for the quarter. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 4.97%. Analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 3rd will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 3rd. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 208.00%.

Insider Activity

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 322,771 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.03, for a total transaction of $6,142,332.13. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 36,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $687,211.36. The trade was a 89.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Robert Francis Rivers bought 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $860,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 403,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,940,345.54. This trade represents a 14.15% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 8,112.5% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 1,947 shares in the last quarter. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 36.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter worth $49,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 90.5% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc operates as the bank holding company for Eastern Bank that provides banking products and services primarily to retail, commercial, and small business customers. The company provides deposit accounts, interest checking accounts, money market accounts, savings accounts, and time certificates of deposit accounts.