Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives $23.08 Average Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.0833.

Several brokerages have recently commented on EBC. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 27th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Barclays reduced their price target on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Stephens started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Eastern Bankshares stock opened at $22.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $20.54 and a 200-day moving average of $20.15. Eastern Bankshares has a 52-week low of $14.88 and a 52-week high of $22.89. The stock has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 12.46 and a beta of 0.67.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $295.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.68 million. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.42% and a net margin of 26.28%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s payout ratio is currently 33.71%.

Insider Activity at Eastern Bankshares

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,475 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $464,987.25. The trade was a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 185.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,437,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,066,000 after buying an additional 4,835,474 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $253,018,000 after buying an additional 3,407,066 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440,017 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 4th quarter valued at $33,548,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 6,846,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.