Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey Sells 10,000 Shares

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Director Joseph Casey sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.96, for a total value of $229,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 72,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,933.84. The trade was a 12.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

NASDAQ EBC opened at $22.64 on Tuesday. Eastern Bankshares, Inc. has a one year low of $16.50 and a one year high of $23.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.52 and a 200 day moving average of $20.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86 and a beta of 0.68.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted 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 business had revenue of $316.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. will post 1.88 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is 34.09%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth $498,672,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,440,017 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after purchasing an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,552,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,048,000 after purchasing an additional 939,740 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Eastern Bankshares by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,919,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $164,385,000 after buying an additional 1,389,304 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EBC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. Hovde Group lifted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $26.00 price objective (up from $24.00) on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $27.00 target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, July 27th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $24.86.

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.