Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine analysts that are currently 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 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $24.8571.

EBC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Hovde Group lifted their price target on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $23.50 to $26.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 23rd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Eastern Bankshares from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Eastern Bankshares from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eastern Bankshares

In other news, Director Joseph Casey sold 1,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.69, for a total transaction of $40,342.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 60,301 shares in the company, valued at $1,368,229.69. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Donald Westermann sold 23,005 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.43, for a total value of $492,997.15. Following the sale, the insider owned 22,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $483,567.95. This represents a 50.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 68,609 shares of company stock valued at $1,529,281. Company insiders own 1.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EBC. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 0.5% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,290,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,708,000 after buying an additional 6,203 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $77,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter worth about $309,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $380,000. Finally, Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Eastern Bankshares in the 2nd quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

Eastern Bankshares Trading Down 1.1%

EBC traded down $0.24 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 362,674 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,468,083. Eastern Bankshares has a twelve month low of $16.61 and a twelve month high of $23.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $22.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.12 and a beta of 0.66.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $316.01 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $308.20 million. Eastern Bankshares had a net margin of 25.12% and a return on equity of 8.71%. Analysts anticipate that Eastern Bankshares will post 1.87 EPS for the current year.

Eastern Bankshares Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 22nd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 8th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 8th. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.09%.

Eastern Bankshares Company Profile

Eastern Bankshares, Inc is the bank holding company for Eastern Bank, a full-service financial institution headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Eastern Bank provides banking and financial services to individuals, families, businesses, nonprofit organizations and municipalities, with a focus on communities in eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

The bank offers deposit accounts, residential and commercial lending, small-business banking, cash-management services, digital and mobile banking, wealth management and trust services.