Eastern Bankshares, Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.13 (NASDAQ:EBC)

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.13 per share on Friday, March 20th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th.

Eastern Bankshares has a payout ratio of 27.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Eastern Bankshares to earn $1.72 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.52 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.2%.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EBC traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $20.46. The company had a trading volume of 639,687 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,748,864. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $13.51 and a twelve month high of $20.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $18.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of 81.85 and a beta of 0.81.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $243.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 7.94% and a net margin of 4.97%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EBC. Barclays began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Hovde Group began coverage on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.88.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, one of the oldest and largest mutual banks in the United States. Founded in 1818 as Salem Savings Bank and later rebranded as Eastern Bank in 1989, the company preserved its mutual ownership structure for more than two centuries. In March 2020, it completed an initial public offering and began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker EBC, while continuing to emphasize its community-focused heritage.

Through its primary subsidiary, Eastern Bank, the company delivers a broad range of commercial and consumer banking products.