Analysts Set Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) PT at $24.86

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $24.8571.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on EBC shares. Barclays lowered their target price 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. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens lowered Eastern Bankshares from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. TD Cowen boosted 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, July 27th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners restated a “buy” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research report on Monday, July 27th.

Eastern Bankshares Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EBC opened at $23.19 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Eastern Bankshares has a 52 week low of $14.95 and a 52 week high of $23.75. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 13.18 and a beta of 0.68. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $21.73 and its 200-day moving average is $20.68.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were 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 $464,987.25. This represents a 7.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eastern Bankshares

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EBC. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 38.0% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 198,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 54,664 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Eastern Bankshares during the 1st quarter worth approximately $954,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 114,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 5,028 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 7.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 432,405 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,091,000 after acquiring an additional 29,781 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Eastern Bankshares by 789.9% in the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 545,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,948,000 after acquiring an additional 484,277 shares during the period. 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.