Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Stock Price

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its price objective boosted by analysts at Barclays from $22.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 15.55% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on EBC. Hovde Group began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.50 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, March 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $23.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research raised Eastern Bankshares from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.91. The company had a trading volume of 416,966 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,035,210. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.54 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $20.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.09. Eastern Bankshares has a fifty-two week low of $13.79 and a fifty-two week high of $22.58.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 22nd. The company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.25% and a net margin of 8.32%.The business had revenue of $290.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $287.09 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO David Andrew Ahlquist sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.65, for a total value of $216,500.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 9,518 shares in the company, valued at $206,064.70. This represents a 51.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Donald Michael Westermann sold 21,256 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.11, for a total value of $427,458.16. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 20,860 shares in the company, valued at $419,494.60. This represents a 50.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eastern Bankshares

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 87.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 762 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 533.3% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 1,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Corsicana & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 36.4% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,189 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. 71.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.