Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.8571.

Several research firms have weighed in on EBC. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price target (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph F. Casey sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.62, for a total value of $236,200.00. Following the sale, the director owned 82,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,705.98. This represents a 10.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total transaction of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 13,419 shares of company stock worth $312,581 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 2,062.7% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,790,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,776,000 after buying an additional 5,522,534 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter worth about $77,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC purchased a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the second quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Flputnam Investment Management Co. acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the second quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 6.9% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 440,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,790,000 after acquiring an additional 28,466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded up $0.07 on Monday, hitting $22.82. 89,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,529,954. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.96 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Eastern Bankshares has a 1-year low of $16.50 and a 1-year high of $23.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.94.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%. Sell-side analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 8th. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

About Eastern Bankshares

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.