Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Price Target Raised to $25.00

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) had its price objective boosted by DA Davidson from $24.00 to $25.00 in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Eastern Bankshares from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Hovde Group lifted their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Stephens assumed coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a report on Monday, June 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eastern Bankshares has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $24.86.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ EBC opened at $23.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.09 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $21.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $20.54. Eastern Bankshares has a 1 year low of $14.88 and a 1 year high of $23.75.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. Eastern Bankshares had a return on equity of 8.71% and a net margin of 25.12%.The company had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.20 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be paid 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 2.6%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other Eastern Bankshares news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.71, for a total value of $38,834.10. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $464,987.25. This trade represents a 7.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,728,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $253,018,000 after acquiring an additional 3,407,066 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% during 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 period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,548,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $133,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,094 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.