Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. (NASDAQ:EBC) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $22.63 and last traded at $22.62, with a volume of 248757 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $22.24.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Eastern Bankshares from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of 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 initiated coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson started coverage on Eastern Bankshares in a report on Friday, May 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Eastern Bankshares in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Eastern Bankshares currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.08.

Eastern Bankshares Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $20.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $20.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.56 and a beta of 0.67.

Eastern Bankshares (NASDAQ:EBC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share 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 net margin of 26.28% and a return on equity of 8.42%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eastern Bankshares, Inc. 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This is a positive change from Eastern Bankshares’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Eastern Bankshares’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Luis Borgen sold 1,709 shares of Eastern Bankshares stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.97, for a total value of $37,546.73. Following the sale, the director directly owned 22,185 shares in the company, valued at $487,404.45. This trade represents a 7.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EBC. HoldCo Asset Management LP lifted its holdings in Eastern Bankshares by 23.0% in the third quarter. HoldCo Asset Management LP now owns 6,408,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,319,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200,272 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Eastern Bankshares by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,874,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $403,138,000 after buying an additional 2,440,017 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 249.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,810,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,857 shares during the period. Azora Capital LP raised its position in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 54.5% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 2,597,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,151,000 after purchasing an additional 916,875 shares during the period. Finally, Algebris UK Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Eastern Bankshares by 21.8% during the fourth quarter. Algebris UK Ltd. now owns 624,471 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,514,000 after purchasing an additional 111,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.68% of the company’s stock.

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.